Ah! The Elements that are Among us
by Wedge Boyd
Summary: When some one breaks into Yggdrasil's memory system and steals sensitive info about the Goddess and Keiichi, the Almighty sends down an Element to keep an eye on them. But as Heaven tries to understand what is going on, there maybe a traitor among them.
1. Chapter 1

**Ah! The Elements that are among us!**

**Chapter 1**

Freyja, the Goddess sat in her chair high above the floor that looked over Yggdrasil,

Heaven's main computer. The sound of electronic humming vibrated through the

Chamber, mixed with the sound of musical chimes as buttons were pushed or scanners

were being used.

"Just another day on the job." Freyja thought to herself, it wasn't the fact that she

hated her job. Her job was very important; she was the System Administrator for the

entire Yggdrasil System. It was her duty to make sure that the System was always

running efficient, and productively.

As she sat there watching the other Goddess around her working, she also reflected on

their jobs as well, all the jobs on the floor where important. Freyja also knew that it

would be impossible for her to do all their jobs by herself, and she was proud to have all

of the goddess work with her. There were three other goddesses that helped Freyja

maintain Yggdrasil. They sat in front of it, always with a keen eye, alert to any problems

that it would have. Their names were Chrono, Ere and Ex and these Goddesses were

considered the best in heaven for this duty. With these Goddesses, Yggdrasil had

reached a maximum percentage efficiency that is required only of the best. Any problem

that had affected the Yggdrasil would easily be fixed and never really caused a problem.

Freyja looked on as Chrono, Ere, and Ex continued to work on maintaining Yggdrasil. An

alarm began ringing from below, form Chrono's station,

"System Error!?" She said out loud. Freyja head turned a little bit, breaking her train of

thought. She stood up and said, "Where is the Error?"

"Still searching Miss Freyja!" Ex said, a few beeps later and then Ex said, "It's coming

from the Hermod's Program!"

"Try to restart the Program!" Freyja called from above, Chrono was already on it, a few

beeps and than a buzzing sound came up, "Unable to restart the Program!"

"Miss Freyja! I have identified the problem. There is a connection problem in Grid A-32L6!

I'm bringing it up on screen." Ere called up.

Freyja turned towards a computer screen that had appeared before her. Connection

Three on the Grid was flashing red.

"We are losing connection Two, Four, and Six, in the same Grid." Ere added. With that

Freyja tried to restart the program herself using an authorized code that she had, but

she got the same message, it was unable to restart the Program. Freyja then turned to

another Goddess that was scrambling to help restart the Program and said, "Asyer! Go

down to the Grid and try and restart the Program manually! If we get it restarted before

you get there, we will inform you." Asyer got up and said, "Yes, Ma'am!" as she left the

Control Room.

Freyja then turned to the Three Goddesses in front of her, "Okay, we need to re-secure

Lines Two, Four, and Six. Ere and Chrono, I want you on that. Ex, try and reconnect Line

Three, we need to make sure whatever this is doesn't get into the

Yggdrasil main-frame. That's our main concern right now!"

The three Goddesses turned to their stations, and began to fulfill the orders. Freyja

turned and looked into the connection problem, and ran a scan to make sure the

connection problem was not spreading to the Yggdrasil main-frame. The scan reported

that the problem was contained, 'Thank Goddess for that.' Freyja thought to herself, and

she continued to monitor the situation from her position, three lights still glowed orange,

but they where still holding, one was red. With the combination of lights and alarms that

mixed in eyes and ears it was enough to almost put Freyja in a trance. She was racking

her brain for any kind of a solution to this Problem. Freyja knew the Yggdrasil and the

Hermod's program better than most Goddesses, and she also knew the Grid that was

affected; it was a Grid that held very-sensitive items about Goddesses, and other

important things. There had never been a lost connection problem before, and she was

already stressing out over this problem.

"Miss Freyja!" Ere's voice form below that snapped her out of trance. "We've lost

Connection Two and Four!" Freyja turned to her screen, and now had three red lights

flashing, and only one orange, 'Where is Asyer?' She thought to herself. After two more

minutes of failed attempts at getting the connections to restart, a telephone rang

behind her. Freyja picked up the phone, "Freyja!"

"Miss Freyja! This Asyer, I'm sorry that it took me so long, but I found the Grid. We have

a problem! Connection Lines numbers Two, Three, and Four were severed, but six is

barely hanging on. I can replace the connections but it will take some time." Asyer said

over the receiver.

"Do what you have to do and get back to the Control Room." Freyja said. She hung up

the receiver, then turning to Ere, Ex and Chrono to gave out the next set of orders,

"Restoration of the Lines are in Progress. Ex, I want you to scan all the connections

make sure there are no more surprises. Ere, scan the Grid; make sure everything is still

where it was last time we scanned it. Chrono, look for access codes, I want to know

who got in, and what was accessed." The Three Goddesses went to work; soon the only

color that showed on the screen was green, showing that all the connections were

replaced.

Ere, Ex and Chrono worked feverishly to complete their tasks that were set out from

Freyja. It would take a few minutes for the scans to be completed. As they worked

Freyja sat on her chair, setting up a report that she knew she would have to make. After

a few minutes of waiting and a minute after Asyer had returned to the Control Room.

The first scan report came from Ex.

"Miss Freyja, the scan shows there are no further problems in the Hermods Program."

Freyja breathed a sigh of relief at the news. Ex jumped into the scans with Ere and

Chrono. The sound of scanning continued to flow upwards to Freyja's ears and her mind

was not in the trance that seemed to disturb her thinking process only a few moments

ago. Freyja continued to watch the floor, wishing that she would not hear anymore

news from the three Goddesses below her; she watched their as hands seemed to flow

over the controls.

"Miss Freyja! Scan is completed." Ere spoke up. Freyja looked at the screen that

appeared before her. Four files were flashing red; Freyja's heart seemed to escape out

of throat with her last breath. A fourth file flashed an orange color, along with the red

files. She pushed on one of the red files; it read "Belldandy, Goddess First Class.

Information Incomplete!" Freyja turned to a phone that was situated behind her chair,

but as she was about picked the receiver, Chrono called up.

"Miss Freyja! We found the Access Code!" her heart seemed to skip a beat for a

moment. She actually went down to the floor, and stood over Chrono and watched as

she pulled up the codes. Ex, Ere and Asyer were even watching the codes that were

coming up in front of all of them.

"The code appears to be a Tumbler Code, it's linked to the main binary code we have in

Yggdrasil's Main Computer. I'm still trying to register the codes, see who they belong to."

Chrono said. With that Ere, and Ex jumped in to help her, in a few minutes a new screen

popped up.

"What!" Freyja thought to herself as she saw the new information that appeared in

front of the five Goddesses.

"The Hermod Program's most restricted area was accessed by a Tumbler Code that is

registered to Third Class Land Spirits!" Asyer said out loud.

Freyja turned away from the four Goddesses and went back to her station, and walked

over to the phone she was going to pick up before, but this time she did. She held the

receiver to her ear and waited.

"This is Freyja! Yes! Yes, it was in Hermod's Program! It was accessed with a tumbler

code. Yes! We registered the codes, and they all are registered to Land Spirits-Third

Class. Yes! There are some files that are missing information! Yes, I will prepare a report

and….understood! I will prepare the report and give it before the Council." Freyja put

the receiver down, and turned to the four shocked Goddesses that were looking at her.

"Asyer! You are in charge until I return; I must report this break-in of the Program to the

High Council." Freyja said, as Asyer nodded to her. Freyja turned, closing a report in her

hand, and walked out of the Control Room.


	2. Chapter 2

Ah! The Elements that are among us.

**Chapter 2**

Freyja held her eyes to the ground, as she reported about all that had happened only two hours ago to the semi-circular row of Gods and Goddesses that sat before her. She had told them everything in her report, and also by an oral account. She told them of the restoration of the Connections, the scan into the Hermods, and of Asyer's report of the break-in from the removal of the panels. Freyja also told them of the tumbler code that was meshed into the Yggdrasil's binary code. She answered the questions many of them had, and after almost three hours since she came to the council, she finally heard the words of the Almighty.

"That is all, Freyja!" With that she got up, and walked out of the council chamber.

The Almighty looked at his Council around him as he spoke, "This is a situation all of us can agree that we have never faced before. A secure program was broken into, using a code that is strictly forbidden, and now to add to the problem we can not identify who it was, or even why they did it. The first matter of business on addressing the problem is how to prevent this from happening again; does anyone have any ideas on how we can do this?"

"My Lord!" A councilman dressed in red robe addressed, "I think the solution is found in the report. According to Freyja the break-in was caused because someone was able to use the Access Panels on the Hermods. I think that until who ever broke in is apprehended someone should guard the access' panels."

"Yes, perhaps a Valkyrie or a member of Yggdrasil de-buggers. We will need someone there to guard those access panels." Another Councilman stated, this one also wearing a red robe.

After observing the repeated nods of approvals from everyone in the Council, the Almighty said, "It's settled then; we will place at the Access Panels to the Hermod Program a Valkyrie until the crisis is abated. I will speak with Valkyrie Command, and ask them to choose someone from their group to guard the Panels." The Council nodded in approval, and then the Almighty spoke again, "Now we have another piece of this business to discuss, as we are all aware the stolen information pertained to the three Norn sisters that reside on the Earth. This crisis does affect them and we should decide on how to best approach the fact that they're safety needs to be accounted for."

A pause filled the Council Chamber as each deity thought about the next step, until an older man who was wearing a magma-colored robe spoke, "My Lord, I know we have discussed this in the past, but under the current circumstances I wish to again present the notion that the three sisters return to Heaven immediately for their mutual safety."

Some in the Council nodded but, some shook their heads in disagreement, another member who was a lot younger than the previous member, who wearing a blue robe spoke up, "Why, it would be foolish to bring them back here for a simple thing like their files being broken into."

"Foolish you say, Njord! It would be foolish to leave them on the Earth, like lambs left to a wolf pack; at least in Heaven they stand a better chance of protection. I think we should follow Loki's notion and have them brought back for their mutual safety." Another Councilman said

"From what, Mani? We don't even know who it was that broke into their files, let alone why. If we bring them back without probable cause, then it will be us crying wolf, and then whoever it was that did stage the break-in will panic and disappear into the shadows, then we will be the ones who will look foolish. I would agree with Njord!" A pre-middle aged Councilman said who wore a Yellow Robe.

"I would also have to agree with Njord and Dagr, My Lord. According to Freyja's report she gave us, we know that codes from a Third Class Land Spirit were used in the initial break-in, yes even if it was Tumbler code, what if the code was just that, I think we all know that a First Class Goddess like Belldandy can handle a Third Class Land Spirit. Even if it isn't; all three sisters have shown us in the past that if they work together they can overcome any obstacle that comes to them, and we are seeing that they can work together." A middle-aged looking Councilwoman stated; she was wearing a green robe.

"This is not a question of whether or not they can defend themselves against a threat, Erda! This is a question of who broke into the Hermods Program and what they plan to do with the information, if they are planning on using it, but we don't know because we can't find the culprit." Loki said out loud.

"So, Loki you would be willing to just hasten them back to the safety of heaven for something as trivial as someone stealing information." The Council woman Erda retorted back.

"Come now Erda; look at the information that was stolen out of the program. All of their unsealed abilities, information concerning their roles in the Lord of Terror incident, and even a file regarding Belldandy's jealousy storms. Jealousy Storms! A First Class Goddess should not have an attribute like jealousy, let alone having a storm caused from a bout of jealousy." Mani stressed to the Council.

"And are you saying that we should just leave them on Earth, unguarded, and uninformed. Just so you can launch an investigation into something just to satisfy your curiosity which may very well cost them their lives." Loki stressed on Mani's behalf.

"So your saying that we should just bring them back to Heaven for their mutual safety from something that we can not even identify just to satisfy the paranoid feelings in the back of your head." Njord argued against Mani and Loki.

"_**ENOUGH!**_" The Almighty shouted, as the last of his patience waned. The sound carried throughout the Chamber, it was probably heard through out Heaven. As the last of the echo passed from the chamber, the entire arguing members of the Council sat back down in their seats, and remained quiet. When order was restored, the Almighty again looked at the Council and said, "Arguing about this will not resolve anything. We all feel that Belldandy and her sisters safety is resting on the possibility of Jeopardy. We are here to try and find a solution, not make it worse by arguing whether they should come home or not. So for the time being, I will make the final decision on whether they will return to Heaven or not!" A long pause filled the Chamber, looking at them the Almighty again spoke, only much softer, "Now, back to the matter we were just discussing! I have heard both sides of the argument and I have reached a decision. It is true that we can not yet identify whoever it was that stole the information in the Hermods. Because of this fact it will make an investigation a lot harder to conduct, let alone make an appropriate decision on their safety. So for the time being, while the investigation is being conducted I feel that it is best that they remain where they are."

Heads looked toward the Lord, some shocked at the decision he just made, others looked rather pleased with the decision, but the Lord ignored the faces as he added, "But if the situation does grow outside of their control or the abilities then I will order them to return to Heaven. Is that understood?" The Almighty looked around and saw that everyone was nodding, and with that he said, "Very well, the Council is adjourned!"

As the Members rose from their seats to leave the Council Chamber, the Lord watched as they all disappeared and scanning the Chamber saw that Njord was still sitting in his chair, looking at the Lord. The Lord waited until the Chamber was empty and then spoke to Njord.

"You wish to speak with me, Njord?" The Almighty said to his Council man.

"With your permission, My Lord?" Njord asked, The Lord nodded at him, and then Njord asked, "May I speak freely with you." Again the Lord nodded to Njord, with the permission he desired accepted he spoke.

"My Lord, this is the fourth time that Loki has presented to your Lordship and this council his notion that Belldandy and her sisters, Urd and Skuld should return to heaven. The first time was after the Client made the wish, stating that the wish he made was unreasonable and that we should void it immediately. The second time was after Yggdrasil crashed during the Lord of Terror incident, and the contract was voided. But we allowed her to make a choice on whether she wanted to stay on Earth or return to Heaven. She made her choice, but again he still made the motion stating that she has no right to stay if there is no reason to stay. The third time was after Hild and Mara stole the Angel Eater and tried to convert the Sisters and Peorth into Demons. Working together and the Human taking Lind's other angel they were able to defeat Hild and destroy the Angel Eater. Now, he has just presented the notion again, stating that she needs protection from an entity we can not even identify." Njord stated to the Lord.

"What is your point, Njord?" The Almighty said.

"My point my Lord is that Loki keeps changing his reasons for wanting Belldandy to return to Heaven, I believe he is hiding his true reasons." Njord explained quickly.

"His true reasons?" The Almighty asked, unconvinced.

"Yes, My Lord. I think he's hiding something from us, something that explains his true reason for wanting the three sisters to return to Heaven and keep them here. As you know my Lord, the only sister he has any jurisdiction over is Urd, because she is in his order. Belldandy is in my order, but he is trying to get her to come home, and not Urd. Skuld is still under your Lordship's jurisdiction until her Elemental training, and that will not be for another one hundred more years."

"So you are questioning the reason behind Loki's notions on trying to interfere with your right to make the decision on whether the sisters should return to Heaven. Because your reason is that he is overstepping his boundaries and tying to decide what should be your right to decide." The Almighty stated to Njord. Njord sat in his chair with his head hung low, as he thought about what he had told the Lord. It sounded like he was complaining but that was not why he was speaking to the Lord in the first place, so he thought again about what he was trying to say.

"My Lord that is not my reason, my reason is the fact that why Loki and others should make a decision over something that they do not understand. It has been almost eight years since the client made his wish that Belldandy remain with him forever. Yet, the contract is voided, and she still stays there. There must be a reason that she would stay, and it seems to me that there is something there for that reason. But Loki and others are trying to force her to return for some reason that they are hiding from us. They are trying to destroy something they know nothing about, and the reality is we do not know anything about what things are like for Belldandy, Urd and Skuld on Earth, and until we do, I feel we have no reason to call them back. That is my reason for arguing with Loki during our Council earlier, and for that childishness; I apologize my Lord."

The Almighty looked at Njord who had bowed his head to him again, and smiled at him, "You are forgiven, Njord. But in response to your claim, what do you recommend we do about obtaining knowledge on something, 'we know nothing about'?"

"My Lord, I feel that if we wish to make an appropriate and fair decision on whether Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld should return to Heaven for any reason now or in the future. Some one should go down to Earth and observe the conditions that they face on a day by day basis." Njord suggested, sounding rather sheepish

"Someone? Just anyone?" The Lord asked inquisitively

"Someone fair and unbiased on the current situation, someone who will make a report on true events, not just their opinion of the events. Plus, this person can warn them of the current crisis, and inform them of the break-in, and the theft of the information. Also, My Lord if Loki and the others are afraid of an attack, with expressed consent of the Council; if it is one of our own, they can serve as a deterrent to any who wishes to bring them harm." Njord explained to the Lord. The Almighty sat in his chair for a moment and then nodded slowly and said,

"I agree!"

Njord raised his head and smiled as he said, "Thank you, My Lord." The Almighty stood up and Njord followed suit and stood as well. The Almighty walked over to the window that overlooked Heaven and looked out for a moment and then said,

"I also believe I know the best person for such a large responsible task."

"Who? My Lord?" Njord asked inquisitively, the Almighty turned to him with a smile and said.

"You!"

Njord stood, shocked at the announcement, the Lord had chosen him. The words seemed to be lost in translation as it passed into his mind. His arms and body seemed to fail him and after a few seconds he found himself. He opened his mouth and tried to find the words to express his shock, all he came up with was, "M-my Lord?"

"You! You Njord, shall go to Earth, and observe the conditions of Belldandy, Urd and Skuld. You shall inform them of the current situation, the break-in and also of the theft of their information, also tell them that they need to return to Heaven and replace the missing information; afterwards they shall return to Earth. You shall also keep them safe as you observe their day by day activities, and you shall report back to the council when we request information. You shall inform them of your assignment, and also answer any questions that they may have." The Lord told him with a smile on his face.

"When shall I go my Lord?" Njord asked, still in shock.

"Immediately, you should arrive about around the beginning of the eighth hour of the new day." The Lord said. Njord bowed to the Almighty and began to walk out the Chamber, when the lord's voice stopped him.

"This is not a punishment, Njord! I promise you will be allowed to retain your elemental powers on this assignment. Leave with a smile!"

Njord turned and faced the Lord, and with a smile, he bowed again and left the council chamber.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The sun was soaking the grounds around the Tariki Hongan Temple. The temple could be considered lazy as it basked in the Sun, its trees swayed like banners in the early morning breeze. The birds flying low, as if daring the air that pasted under their wings to try and sweep faster, as if to race them. The temple seemed to convey its joy as the breeze past through the small holes that where found through the temple. The breeze that floated through the grounds also seemed to find joy in the forest that was just adjacent to the temple, just to the east side.

It was at this moment, that the gentle breeze that swelled the grounds was replaced by a stronger wind that passed quickly over the grounds, and disappeared into the forest that broke the stillness of the morning. As the wind coursed in between the trees it finally found a secluded spot, and the wind dropped to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The cloud of dust and some particles airborne began to spin in the air. The air spun faster and faster as it began to materialize in the ground base. As the wind spun faster, more and more dust was fed into the cloud. First feet formed, then the legs and the rest of the body of Njord as he remained suspended in the air. But the cloud of dust changed as it flowed around the body and began to clothe the man. A short sleeve shirt of chain-mail covered his chest down to the waist, the sleeves extended to the wrist. A deep blue robe formed around his body; as the robe formed a hood was made. Gold trim lined the hem of the front of the robes, and the sleeves with only two symbols that lines the robes. One was a spiral that touched the gold trim with a thick black thread, the other were two lines that connected on the other side. The gold trims passed his shoulders and extended down his back and separating from the robed like wings. On the tips of the wings were the same markings: a small red circle and a feather looking symbol. A pair of black pants formed around his legs, finalizing the clothes that Njord was wearing, the only thing left bare was his hands, feet, and head. As the last of the breeze that feed the dust began to die, the last ounce flowed into the nostrils' of Njord, and after a sharp intake, a steady breathe came out.

Njord opened his eyes, and looked at his hands. He smiled as the breezes that had lingered; they had come to him, and materialize in front of him, like a ghost and bowed before their master. Njord smiled and lowered his head, and placed his hand over his chest. The Breezes broke up and flowed away from him, and then went their ways through the forest. Njord looked at the forest around him, as lazy patches of sunlight piercing the top of the trees and dotted the forest floor.

As Njord continued to look through the forest, his ears suddenly turned to the sound of singing coming from deep inside the woods. Njord listened for a few seconds, the sound filled his heart with joy, and he smiled as he listened. He closed his eyes, and disintegrated flowing through trees, and bushes, moving towards the singing which grew louder and louder; Njord stopped near a clearing; he reintegrated into his human form this time he had formed a hood on the back of his robes. He raised the hood over his face; as he turned head to look, searching for the source of the beautiful music.

In the dappled sunlight of the clearing stood a woman; Belldandy was her name. She was young, in her early twenties. Behind her was an Angel. It seemed connected to her for it was singing with her. Their voices made the whole forest rejoice with their duet. They were singing to a tree, old, withered and diseased. Njord watched and as they sang to, the tree grew healthier. The branches that had tilted to one side, now it stood straight, its bare branches sprouting new green leaves. The tree finally restored, the singing ended, and the forest grew quiet and still again.

Belldandy turned to her angel, with a smile in both her face and in her eyes, she said, "Thank you, Holy Bell."

Holy Bell nodded to her mistress and disappeared behind her silently, leaving Belldandy alone in the clearing. Glowing more brightly than the sunlight surrounding her she smiled at the tree she had restored as she walked up to it. She reached out and touched the trunk.

"The songs that the heavens have missed," said the still-hidden Njord, breaking the silence

Belldandy startled. She looked around for the origin and, when she could not find it, she closed her eyes. She felt the waves of someone standing behind the trees. She opened eyes and turned to face Njord. His hood down as he stepped into the clearing, the sun shining on him like a spotlight on a stage. Belldandy gasped in embarrassment, and dropped to her knee bowing her head to the ground.

"M-my Lord Njord! I seek your forgiveness, I didn't…"

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a pair of feet that were in front of her. She slowly looked up, and saw a hand was extended to her. Her gaze continued upward and was relieved to see Lord Njord was smiling down at her, his hand extended. Belldandy put her hand into his and Njord pulled her up to her feet. She looked into his eyes, blue like unto his Robes. His smile was still on his face, and it began to expand almost into a laugh, but he held it. He looked into Belldandy's eyes and said, "You haven't change a bit, you're still the same girl that I knew all those years ago."

"You haven't changed either, My Lord." Belldandy said with a smile, having recovered from the shock of seeing him.

"It has been far too long my old friend, and I am glad to see that you are well." Njord said, as Belldandy closed her arms around him embracing like long-lost friends.

"My Lord," she said, "forgive my imprudence, but why are you here?"

Njord looked at her, and the smile dropped from his face; he scanned the forest before answering. "We have a lot to talk about."

Njord and Belldandy emerged out of the forest in time to see Sigel rush by. She ran out of sight, screaming, "leave me alone." In hot pursuit came Banpei-kun was behind her, chasing her across the grounds; Sigel was able to duck behind a group of bushes and hide before Banpei-kun came back around. When he did he changed from his scooter mode, to his walking mode and began to search around the bushes. It was here that Sigel surprised him; using her rocket punch and pulling up on his emergency shut down lever shut Banpei off.

"You really need to get your memory upgraded!" Sigel taunted, rewinding her rocket punch. As she was finishing, she noticed Belldandy and Njord watching and listening to her. Sigel ran over to this person she had never meet with a smile bowed to him, saying, "Welcome, thank you for coming."

"Thank you, Sigel. My name is Njord!" Njord said introducing himself and bowing in return. Njord walked over to the bushes, Sigel and Belldandy closely behind. Njord looked over the motionless Banpei-kun; he looked at Sigel and asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

"All the time." Sigel confirmed.

"Why not just ask Mistress Skuld to dismantle him?"

"Why would I ask her that?" Sigel asked, shocked at the idea.

"Well, you did want him to leave you alone; with him dismantled you can be alone." Njord informed Sigel.

An uncomfortable Sigel looked back at Njord. "No," a sad Sigel confessed. .

"All right, but I guess we can give him a rest." Njord said giving Sigel a smile and a wink.

"Yes, lets," Sigel agreed, smiling back.

With a wave of his hand, Banpei-kun floated across the temple grounds and landed in Skuld's room. The robot was already forgotten as Njord lead Sigel and Belldandy inside the house.

Belldandy led Sigel down the hall, Njord following behind. The entered the Tea Room to find Peorth hovering and watching an American Soap Opera on the television. When Belldandy came in she turned around and said,

"Belldandy, did you feel. . . . " Peorth's eyes grew wide as she spotted Njord. Her soap opera forgotten she dropped to the ground with a crash. Peorth scrambled into a kneeling position, bowing to Njord.

"MY LORD NJORD!" Peorth exclaimed from the ground.

"Peorth," Njord smirked. "I see that your vacation has turned into residency."

"Well . . . .I . . . .um" Peorth stammered,.

"Its okay, the Council approved it last month." Njord said still smiling at her; Peorth looked back at him and smiled as she rose from the ground.

"Would anyone like some tea?" Belldandy asked from the kitchen.

"Yes. Please." Njord said sound excited.

"Oui, c'est pas." Peorth said also sounding excited.

Njord, Belldandy and Peorth sat in the Tea room sipping on the fresh pot of warm herbal tea that Belldandy made. Both Peorth and Belldandy looked at each other and then at Njord as he took small gulps of the tea. As he finished the last of the dregs of his tea and handed it to Peorth; Belldandy looked at him.

"So what was it you needed to talk to me about, My Lord?" Belldandy asked, as Peorth handed him back his cup with a refill of tea inside.

"Forgive me, Belldandy, but I must ask for a little more time for what I have to tell you concern not only you, but all within this house." Njord said and took another sip. Belldandy looked at him with concern again. Njord placed his cup down, and looked again at Belldandy and said, "You will not have to wait long; they are all on their way home, including the client."

As Peorth, Belldandy and Njord sat at the table; the sound of the front door opened, and Keiichi called from the door,

"We're back!"

Belldandy stood up, and called out, "Welcome home!" After she said this, Skuld appeared in the doorway and said,

"Onee-sama we felt…." Skuld's eyes grew wide as she looked in and saw that Njord was sitting at the table. Njord smiled at her and then said,

"Skuld! you've grown."

Skuld dropped to her knees, and bowed her head. Before she could acknowledge his presence with the proper greeting, the T.V. screen glowed and then Urd, suddenly appeared in the room,

"Belldandy, did you feel the…." Urd eyes widened as she looked at Njord as he sat there.

"Urd! You haven't changed a bit." Urd dropped to her knees as both she and Skuld exclaimed, "My Lord!"

Keiichi, who was in his room hanging his jacket in the closet. Came around one of the corners to find Skuld who was still on her knees in the middle of the hallway. He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Skuld looked up for a second, and glanced at Keiichi, she screamed at him,

"KNEEL KEIICHI!!" Keiichi glanced at Skuld for a moment, again she motioned for him to kneel, this time more feverishly, and then he descended to his knee. He looked up after kneeling, he saw a man standing in the doorway.

"Ah! You must be the client!" The man said, his voice sounding like the gentle rush of a small river. Keiichi looked at him, and slowly he was able to answer him.

"Y-yes, my name is Morisato Keiichi." Keiichi said, with Skuld still motioning him to remain kneeling.

"A pleasure, and if Skuld will stop motioning to you, I will allow you to rise." Skuld face turned red, and the man looked at her with a smile on his face. As Keiichi rose from his knees, the man walked over to him. As he stood close to him, Keiichi felt a gentle breeze circling around him. The man extended a hand to him, and as Keiichi took it he said, "My name is Njord! I am an Element, and a member of the High Council of Heaven. I am here on the orders from the Almighty himself, with news that I must give to all of you." He then, he let go of his hand, and turned to the remaining Goddess; three more cups then floated out of the cupboard and landed on the table.

"Everyone get comfortable, we may be here a while." Njord said.

Njord told them everything that had happened in the Hermods program. He told the Norn sisters and Keiichi all the different things that were stolen about them. The one thing all of them could relate to is all of their roles in the Lord of Terror incident was stolen, including the report of Keiichi's possession by the Lord himself!

Keiichi looked around the room. Urd was pale, it seemed that she was about to be sick, knowing that something had such information about her, was almost too much for her to bear. Skuld's face seemed stolen from any expression. Someone had all of her inventions in their possession, and she could do nothing about them. Belldandy was also pale too; she knew that information on her unsealed abilities was important, but what seemed to affect her was the fact that her file on her jealousy storms were taken as well. Peorth looked around at the others just as Keiichi had done, but he could see that she was equally concerned about all of them. Keiichi was also worried about that someone was walking around with information about him.

"So…" Keiichi started, Urd and Skuld looked up at him as he struggled for the words.

"So what happens next, do they have to return to heaven?" Urd and Skuld looked at Njord, as he looked at Keiichi, "No." he said reassuringly as all sighed with relief. Njord looked around at them, and stated; "The council has decided that all of you should stay where you are for the time being, but if the situation does grow outside of your control you will be forced to return to Heaven for your safety."

"So, Njord why are you here?" Urd asked.

"I am here under the orders of the Almighty to serve as an observer and as a deterrent to those who may wish to bring you harm." Njord said

"Observer?" Peorth asked puzzled.

"Yes, I am here to ascertain the situation, and observe the conditions that the five of you go through down on Earth, and report everything to heaven." Njord said, before any one else could interrupt him, he stated again, "Now we do have more to discuss. The Council has decided that the three of you need to return to Heaven and replace the information that is missing from your files." He said looking at the Norn sisters.

"What about Peorth? She's been here for a while, was anything taken?" Urd asked Njord.

"Nothing was taken from Peorth's file, but they are watching it." Njord said answering Urd's questions.

"But, how are they going to replace their files?" Keiichi asked, looking at the Norn sisters.

"Well, they have a choice; they can fill out reports by hand or…." Njord did not finish, because Urd let out a monstrous groan.

"No! Not that!" Urd whined, almost sounding horrified.

"Not what?" Keiichi asked, not seeing this side of Urd before, but before Njord could tell him, Urd spoke up quietly, but loud enough to be auditable. "Brain-scanner!" with these words Skuld and Peorth even shuttered.

"Brain-scanner?" Keiichi asked.

"It's like a MRI machine that humans use, but instead of taking a picture of the electricity running through your brain; it will find the information in your brain, then make a copy of it, and extract it from the brain." Skuld explained, slowly shuttering

"Last time I was put under that awful machine; I forgot my own name for a week." Urd complained

"If I remember correctly, the last time you went under that machine was because you were asked by Lord Loki to guard a report he asked you hold on to, but you lost it. I arraigned for you to take the scan and get a replacement rather than face the punishment." Njord stated, as Urd scolded at Skuld and Peorth who were chuckling. "I should add that we found the report two hours later." Urd eyes flashed at Njord who was still smiling at her.

"So when do we need to return to Heaven to replace the files, My Lord?" Belldandy asked.

"The Almighty gave no time frame, but I think the sooner this is taken care of the better." Njord stated. "I know that the reports will take a while, but if you decide to do the brain scan you should be back around midnight."

"Then let's get it over it." Urd said.

"But what about Keiichi; He can't just walk past the gate." Peorth brought up.

"No, he can't; but I'll contact the archive programmers and establish a connection to retrieve his information." Njord stated.

"What kind of connection retrieval do they use?" Keiichi asked, but Njord just took another sip of his tea.

Belldandy and Keiichi were sitting on the porch to their house, looking at the trees that were slowly turning into the fall colors. Belldandy had changed into her Heaven's clothing that she wore when she needed to go to Heaven. Belldandy's heavenly attire was blue raiment across her shoulders and extending down her sides that was connected with a gold pin in the middle. A flowing white dress was under her raiment that extended down her ankles but it was cut open up to a little above her knees. Her hands and feet were covered in a blue wrap that were held by a gold bracelets that held them in place. Keiichi and Belldandy sat together with their hands rested on each others, Belldandy's head resting on his shoulder. Skuld and Urd were still inside the house, as Njord was on the phone with heaven.

"So he's a member of the High Council of Heaven." Keiichi asked randomly.

"Yes, Lord Njord and I have known each other for years; he was the one who trained me in my Elemental Powers." Belldandy said, before Keiichi could ask another question, the sound of footsteps approaching them broke the conversation. They both turned and saw that Urd was standing over them, and grudgingly said, "Lord Njord says they are ready for us." Belldandy nodded, and stood up.

"I'll see you tonight." Belldandy said.

"I'll wait up." Keiichi said.

Belldandy walked into the house and touching one of the mirrors she disappeared into it, as she did she smiled at Keiichi. Keiichi looked through out the house as two more lights grew and then faded all throughout the house, leaving him and Peorth alone with Njord in the house. Keiichi turned and looked out at the trees and watched as they fluttered in the wind and then he heard footsteps approaching him. Keiichi turned and saw Njord standing next to him; Njord was looking at him for a moment and then said, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"No at all…Lord Njord." Keiichi said and Njord took a seat next to him. Both of them sat for a moment and then Keiichi said in his mind, "So, now we have an Element living with us, but what's an Element?" Before Keiichi could even ask his question; Njord looked at him.

"An Element is someone who holds a certain jurisdiction over the Elements that allow the Earth to exist and has the responsibility to maintain and care for them." Njord said. Keiichi looked at him with a surprise on his face and then sighed as he remembered.

"That's right; Belldandy told me that Gods and Goddesses can read human minds." Keiichi said.

"Well, Gods and Goddesses can read minds as she told you, but also she said that they can only read them as colors. But for more powerful deities like myself I can read your mind word for word, so it is best not to hide any secrets from me." Njord said with a playful smirk on his face.

"So, what element do you have jurisdiction over?" Keiichi asked in wonder.

"My jurisdiction falls under the Sea and the Wind; I am their master because they chose me to be their mouth piece. I am in every breeze and every tempest, and the wind and the sea obey my voice." Njord said, his smile was still on his face but his voice was serious enough to make Keiichi move away a little in fear. Keiichi looked at the small mark on Njord left hand and was amazed by it.

The mark on the left hand was a blue mark, and it was a symbol. The shape in the middle of the mark was a blue triangle that sat upwards and the tip pointed to his middle finger. Along the three sides of the triangle were three lines that did not touch each other, at the bottom of the triangle were two lines instead of one, but were all equal in length. At the top of the triangle was a small blue dot and also did not touch either of the lines that came to it.

"This is the mark of an Element; you will find it only on those who are called to be an Element." Njord said, Keiichi looked at the mark, and then his eyes moved up to his forehead and the saw a small blue circle and a crescent circle that was around the circle. Njord also had under each eye and small mark that looked like a combination of a stretched triangle and a condensed circle.

"All these other marks signified my place in Heaven and place on the High Council of Heaven." Njord said. Keiichi felt so small compared to Njord, but strangely he did not feel the same feeling from Njord, he felt almost…equal to him.

As the day progressed into the late afternoon, Keiichi was sitting in his room when he heard a loud meow. Knowing it was Velsper; he looked outside and saw Velsper standing on one end of the hallway and Njord standing on the other. Njord hand was extended to him, but Velsper would not come to him, but form the look of things he could not even move.

"Hello Velsper, long time no see." Njord said to the cat.

"Not long enough, Njord!" Velsper hissed back at him.

"I see that Hild was nice enough to allow you to remain here, but if I had my way, I would turn you a piece of algae for the fishes of the deep." Njord responded; Velsper hissed at Njord and in a moment jumped at Njord. Njord stiffed his hand and caught Velsper in mid-air and looked at the kitten floating before him. "But, I think you have suffered a better punishment than any I could dream of."

"Suffered?" Velsper asked, confused.

"The only things you have to worry about are the fleas that bite into your skin, and getting hit by cars, so for now I will say my judgment against you is satisfied." Njord said he dropped Velsper back on the floor; Njord watched as Velsper walked away from him. Njord looked and saw that Keiichi was looking at him and he said, "Cute cat."

The next few hours pasted with no incident or discussion until almost around seven o'clock. Peorth came around the corner and told Keiichi that Njord needed to see him; Keiichi got up from his desk and followed her. As Keiichi rounded around a corner he saw Njord standing next to the phone, and then he said. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what, My Lord?" Keiichi asked, confused. Njord held up the phone.

"Your scan!" Njord said.

Keiichi eye widen with horror, as the word, 'scan' escaped from Njord's lips. He remembered what Skuld's and Urd's fears were like, and the thought of the scan was enough to scare him into the deepest part of his being.

"I can assure you, it's quite safe. Your scan will only take a few seconds, not like a few minutes like theirs will, and we use a lower frequency for the scan rather then a beam." Njord said sounding sincere about the whole thing. Even though Njord made it sound safe; Keiichi's mind was not completely sold on the whole idea of a beam, tone, or anything poking into his brain. But Keiichi slowly made his way to the phone, and held the receiver to his ear and mouth.

"Morisato Keiichi?" A voice came over the end.

"Y-ee-sss?" Keiichi squeaked out.

"Make sure you hold the phone to your ear at all times until the scan is done." The voice told him. Keiichi's arm seemed to fail, but suddenly he felt a hand on the side on head, and on his back. Keiichi turned and found Peorth standing behind him holding the phone to his ear.

"This is going to feel…strange." Njord stated.

"We are commencing the scan…now!" the voice came over again.

There was no way Keiichi could have prepared for it. It was a loud electronic warbling sound, the noise was erratic, and the signal was felt to course thought the ear, and then to his nervous system, and finally into his brain. The sound was like a synthesized fingers running across a chalk blackboard, only amplified to measure what felt like an air horn being blasted into his ear.

His knees buckled after two seconds and he wanted to rip the phone away from his ear. But Peorth's grip was strong, and the phone stayed on his ear, as he collapsed to the floor, and finally after what felt like an eternity the sound stopped, and a voice barely auditable said, "That is all, thank you."

Peorth pulled the phone away form him, and handed it to Njord who hung it up on the receiver, and both of them helped Keiichi stand up. Keiichi tried to walk but was unable to do so, he took only one step and then fell to the floor and landed rather painfully on the wooden floor. Keiichi tried to get back up, but he found he could not, his arms also failed him. Suddenly sleep seemed to overcome him as his strength failed, and he closed his eyes as his body felt weightless.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Norn Sisters did not return home until a few minutes after midnight. Belldandy was the only one who was able to walk under her own strength. Urd was leaning on Belldandy and Skuld as they were trying carry Urd to her room, but even Skuld stumbled a lot. Peorth and Njord came out and helped Belldandy, Peorth took Urd, as Njord took Skuld to her room.

Belldandy looked down the hallway and she saw that Keiichi's door was slightly ajar; she looked in and saw that he was fast asleep. His blanket only covered his upper torso, leaving his toes exposed to the elements; mumbling as he slept. Belldandy smiled at him, and stealthily went in and readjusted his blanket and kissed him on his cheek, "Good night, dear Keiichi-san." Belldandy looked on his face, and a smile grew and then he mumbled, "Good Night, Belldandy.", but his eyes did not open, as she slipped out of his room.

Belldandy walked down the hallway to her room, as she did she saw Peorth who was coming out of Urd's room. She turned to Belldandy and smiled at her and whispered, "I guess they increased the frequency on Urd this time." Peorth said; Belldandy nodded in agreement, "He wanted to be awake when you got home, but that signal can do a number on humans." Peorth said to Belldandy.

"He was." Belldandy simply said to Peorth, who was smiling at Belldandy. "Where's Lord Njord?"

"He backs in the Tea room." Peorth said as Belldandy turned and walked back towards the Tea room. She slid opened the door saw Njord sitting in front of the TV with the images and colors covering his face.

"Amazing what these humans have for entertainment." Njord said turning off the television as Belldandy came in.

"Yes, indeed." Belldandy said as she walked around to the kitchen. Njord looked around and saw the smile that was across her face.

"You really do love him, don't you?" Njord asked, in a fair question.

"Yes. I do." Belldandy said as she looked outside.

"But deep in your heart you fear the day of your separation." Njord said sensing her heart.

"Yes I do!" Belldandy said her head slightly dropping; she felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder and a voice filling her ears.

"That day will not come for a long time. Remember his wish; he wants you to stay with him always. Those words did not come out lightly, otherwise that wish would have been rejected by Yggdrasil and you would not be here still." Njord said comfortingly to her, Belldandy turned and looked at Njord as he continued,

"We have seen the trials that you and Keiichi have faced, but neither one of you have faced them alone, neither has one of you has ever abandoned the other. You will still have trials in the future, but I can see in his heart. He will never let you face them alone; as long as there is air in his lungs he will try and help you." With that said, Njord walked past Belldandy out into the darkness, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

As the night turned into the early morning hours, the temple grounds were almost frozen. The only things that changed on the grounds themselves were the breezes that gently rattled the trees and the wind chimes. The grounds obscured any noise outside that came from outside the gates, but even in this quiet state a sense of eeriness was approaching.

The breezes that flowed thought the grounds began to become less and less frequent as night began to turn into day. As a purplish haze grew in the East; the morning breezes that were blowing were replaced by a still, stuffy air that settled over the grounds. It was in this moment that the winds suddenly changed from the West to the East.

The Eastern winds brought a cloud of fog from the sea, and Nekomi disappeared in it. The fog settled on the temple grounds obscuring much that could have been seen from the porch. But as soon as the fog arrived, the winds changed and the Western winds erased the fog and restored the early suns' haze.

"Wake up!"

Belldandy awoke with a start and looked around her empty room. Her surroundings were all familiar, but a feeling of paranoia set over her; and she felt as if she was being watched from just outside the door. Belldandy got up and walked over to the door, as she opened it, she expected to come face to face with the disturbance; but nothing was there.

Her sense of alertness faded into confusion as she stared into the empty temple grounds. She knew she was not imaging what she felt, because the feeling was still in her, the feeling that her every movement was being watched, by eyes she could not see. Belldandy looked around seeing if there was something out of the ordinary, but the grounds remained as they were.

"You hear that?" Peorth said in the darkness. Belldandy looked at Peorth who was also looking around the grounds. Belldandy nodded and Peorth walked over to her; Belldandy looked at Peorth and then said, "Wake Lord Njord, I'll keep an eye on things out here." Peorth disappeared off the porch and into the darkness as Belldandy looked over the grounds again.

Suddenly a whooshing sound broke Belldandy from her scan of the area. The whooshing sound was like a cloak in a strong breeze, the sound was also hypnotic. Belldandy listened for the origin of the sound; it was coming from the forest the more she listened she became ensnared. Belldandy took one step towards the forest, and in her trance-like state in one step she was already at the gate which leads into the forest.

Belldandy looked at the dark forest which only the top of the trees were beginning to show the light of the morning. Her alertness was still high, as the sound was still coming from the forest, only a little louder as greenish haze radiated from inside the forest. The more Belldandy stood next to the forest, the more she became oblivious to her surroundings and was becoming incoherent.

Before she completely lost herself, she recovered and was able to break the hold of the trance. The sound continued to echo as Belldandy clasped her hands and said, "Holy Bell, come forth!" In a flash of light her angel came forth from behind her, and embraced her mistress and clearing Belldandy's mind. "Will you protect me, mirror of my soul?" Holy Bell silently nodded to her mistress; Belldandy opened the gate, and both she and Holy Bell plunged into the darkness of the forest.

The forest which was once full of life and joy was now eerily silent; no squirrel or bird made any sound, the forest seemed dead, without life. Belldandy and Holy Bell pressed on as the light that came from Holy Bell was like a torch in the darkness, piercing the shadows. After a few minutes Belldandy and Holy Bell found themselves in a deep section of the forest.

Belldandy stopped and the forest that seemed to come to life around her, and soon afterwards the sound returned. This time the sound was more directed all around her, and in the light it was almost incandescence, like smoke coming from a fire. But it gave no shape or form, making it impossible for Belldandy or Holy Bell to even see the light. Belldandy raised her hands and a blue shield appeared around her and Holy Bell.

"What is it you want?" Belldandy asked this force she could not see, but only feel. No response came from forest, or the force that Belldandy felt in her mind. She could still sense their presence there in the trees and other parts in the forest. They slowly crept towards her, and her alertness rose, as did Holy Bell's; both stood silently and aware that this mysterious force was only a few feet away.

"I don't want to fight you, but I will defend myself!" Belldandy gave out her warning, and then they struck. Like lions attacking their prey they pounced on Belldandy, with each attack the shield rang out. The shield held firm and kept Belldandy and Holy Bell safe, the repeated attacks became more and more frequent as seconds rolled past. Suddenly, just as quickly as it started, the attacks ceased and the force that attacked Belldandy escaped into the forest and Belldandy felt them running pass the first row of trees, and then the next row, finally stopping about thirty yards from Belldandy.

"Why did you attack me?" Belldandy called out, but still no response came from the forest. "I am Belldandy, Goddess First Class, type two (unlimited), you will answer me!" She said loudly; then the force charged again. Belldandy could hear a sound like a charging bull as the force came upon her. Before the force reached her, the trees behind her erupted to life, and almost knocked Belldandy down. Belldandy looked up and saw the trees thrashing in the violent wind that swept through the forest. The force that once tried to attack her now retreated into the forest. Belldandy turned around and saw Peorth standing along with Lord Njord, one of his arms extended, glowing blue. Njord lowered his hand and after taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and looked at Belldandy.

"Sorry I'm late." Njord said, with a concerned look on his face.

Njord slid over a refilled cup of tea towards Belldandy; she thanked him and took a sip; as Njord refilled his own cup. Belldandy put her cup down; she was still a little shaken by what just happened. Her shield was able to protect her and Holy Bell, but she couldn't see her assailants.

"Did you feel anything demonic from that force, or anything?" Peorth asked. Belldandy shook her head, and felt a twinge of failure as she answered Peorth's question.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Belldandy. Even we couldn't see what attacked you; we could only feel it just like you. Even the Yggdrasil Level Eight Scan on the whole region and temple grounds couldn't see anything." Njord said. Belldandy looked shocked by this news; a level eight scan from Yggdrasil main computer can pick up the signals of ghosts and anything that may not be seen by the eyes.

"Is that why you were delayed, My Lord?" Belldandy asked

"More or less, I asked Freyja to do random scans on this area with level eight scanners, and if she finds anything she will let me know." Njord told her, Belldandy was relieved to hear the news. "Also, she will report this to the Almighty, and he'll contact me soon."

Belldandy nodded to Njord she felt safer knowing that the Almighty was going to be informed of the situation down here. Even though the heavens would be informed about the attack and the force, she still was fearful for all those in the house. Her soul trembled with the thought that what if the force attacked other, and not just her.

"I'll also discuss that with the Almighty, but I think that the only one you should worry about is the client you are with. Skuld, Urd and Peorth are more than capable of holding their own." Njord told her with a smirk on his face.

"I will not let anything happen to him, if it came between me and Keiichi, I would find a way to destroy it before I even let it hurt him." Belldandy said very strongly

"Let's hope it never comes to that." Njord said his tone held some disbelief.

"My Lord?" Belldandy asked; confused by his tone he expressed in his statement he had made.

Njord looked at Belldandy and he could tell that she read his tone that he had expressed. He looked into her eyes and he could see the confusion that she felt over the statement and the tone in the statement. He put down his cup, and slid it over to the side and placed his hands on the table.

"Peorth can you give me and Belldandy a moment?" Njord asked. Peorth nodded and walked outside; she even picked up Velsper who was sitting in a corner listening; leaving Belldandy alone with Njord.

"Belldandy, I am not questioning your resolve or your determination in protecting Keiichi to the fullest extent of your powers; even to the cost of your life. But what I would question is what if the tables were turned and the only thing that would save him is to destroy him, would you be able to do that?" Njord asked Belldandy in a concerned tone. Belldandy thought about what she would do in that situation, but her mind was made up.

"I would rather suffer more than he would if it meant that is the only way I could protect him." Belldandy repeated in a determined tone.

"We know that Belldandy, we saw it only four years ago, we saw the full measure of that determination." Njord said. Belldandy looked at Njord as she tried to remember what Njord wanted her to remember. After a silent minute, she looked at Njord who said.

"The Lord of Terror Incident."

The memory came flooding back into her head, she remember when Urd cracked and then transformed into the Lord herself. The fight with Fenrir and then Midgard, and then it finally hit her. When Keiichi in defending Skuld from the program, jumped to protect her but was bitten and the Lord of Terror transferred to him. Then like an old wound being opened in her heart, she remembered when the Almighty sent down a flash of his power to kill Keiichi; but Belldandy still defended him, even when he was possessed by the program, and when he cut the Universal superstring.

"That is what worries me!" a voice broke into her memories. Belldandy looked up and saw that Njord was looking directly into her eyes, watching the memories unfold before him.

"That is what worries me and others in Heaven. He sent that power to kill him for the sake of saving countless millions and that the world would be saved. But instead you jumped in front of that power, risking your own life in an attempt to save him." Njord said, in a serious tone. Belldandy opened her mouth in an attempt to explain her reason, but Njord raised his hand.

"I am not condemning you for your actions Belldandy, in fact there are many who praised your actions in both the Lord of Terror and the Angel Eater. You showed an amazing resolve to not only protect him but also the others that live in this house. But what still haunts me is the fact that others have seen it too. We just had a break-in and some of the information that was stolen dealt with your emotional attachment towards Keiichi." Njord told her, she remembered all about the discussion they had only a few hours ago.

"So am I to stop having an attachment to him, is that what you ask of me My Lord?" Belldandy asked, sounding sad at the question

"No, that is not what I am saying at all. Your love for Keiichi is the best source of your power you could ask for; he is your reason for staying on Earth as long as you have. But, your love for him can also be the greatest source of weakness against you, and there are those who will exploit it. All I am saying Belldandy is you need to be careful because the more I'm investigating this break-in; the more I'm beginning to believe this is not a random break-in but a plot; and if you are not careful someone will use it to destroy you." Njord said. Belldandy looked shocked at this statement…but she nodded in agreement.

Later in the day, Belldandy was standing outside hanging the laundry out to dry on the clothes line. The only thing she could think of was the warning that Njord had given her last night. The same words pasted through her heart, 'Your love for Keiichi is the best source of your power; but it can also be the greatest source of weakness against you.' Every time she tried to think about something else those words would continue to pass through her.

As the gentle breeze floated across the grounds it swayed the bed sheets that had been hung up. The gentle breeze filled her heart with happiness as it progressed down to the forest. She looked at the breeze as it progressed to the forest. Belldandy eyes stopped on the forest, and in a flash she saw everything again. Her glowing shield, Holy Bell and her under it with their arms extended to the wall of the shield; feeling the ripples with every strike. Then the trees that shook violently as Njord arrived to scare this unseen force into the darkness.

"Belldandy?" a voice called out in her mind, it snapped her out of her trace and brought her back into the present. She turned to the source of the voice, and found Keiichi standing on the porch. He looked a little concerned as he had looked at her, but she just smiled at him.

"I'm sorry. What is it, Keiichi-san?" Belldandy said.

"Megumi is on the phone, she says she just got a movie that she says is right up Skuld's and Urd's alley and wanted to know if we wanted to watch it." Keiichi said, sounding a little annoyed, he always thought that Megumi came over too much.

"What does that mean, 'up Skuld and Urd's alley'?" Belldandy asked confused, she never really got much of human slang.

"It means it might be interesting to them to watch it." Keiichi said smiling

"That would be wonderful, tell her I said thank you for the thought." Belldandy said sounding really excited, everybody in the house enjoyed watching movies together. As Keiichi nodded and when back into the house, Belldandy was truly happy again, this was something to take her mind off of things.

"Megumi said she will bring it by around five o'clock tonight." Keiichi announced after getting off the phone. He sat down next to Belldandy on the porch, and they both sat looking at the trees as they swayed in the wind. Keiichi looked at Belldandy a few times and he could see that something was bothering her.

"Are you alright?" Keiichi asked Belldandy; she knew she could not lie to him shook her head, and told Keiichi about the events that occurred last night. The mysterious force that attacked her and Holy Bell in the forest, and also the conversation she had with Njord; Belldandy brought up to Keiichi was the last thing she was told by Njord, and that was his warning. Keiichi listened very intently, especially the warning that Belldandy told him about that came from Njord.

Inside his heart, Keiichi strengthened his resolve to do what ever it took to protect Belldandy and the others. He had always his done his best when they needed him, and they always did their best to help him.

"This sounds pretty heavy; you say that Njord will inform Heaven about all this." Keiichi said, after Belldandy told him the whole thing.

Belldandy looked at him, as he put his hand over hers and looked her in the eye and said, "I will not let anything happen to you, and I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure I won't get hurt either. All of us make a pretty formidable team when someone threatens us."

Belldandy nodded to Keiichi, and held his hand a little tighter as Skuld and Urd appeared from around the corner, both looked at them for a moment, Skuld face dropped as she said, "Keiichi, release your hand from my Onee-sama this second!"

"What's the matter, Skuld? You and Sentaro haven't held hands yet?" Urd said. Urd teased Skuld viciously since she witnessed Skuld and Sentaro walking up the street locked in each others arms. Skuld threw her oldest sister a very nasty look.

"Ah, the joys of sibling rivalry." Peorth said as she walked out of the house looking at Skuld's temperament face.

"It's good to see that you two still haven't killed each other." A voice from above said. Everyone looked up as Njord floated down his perch on a telephone pole. He landed right in front of all five of them, "Well, I have some good news! Your father has taken a personal interest in the investigation, and he has told me that Freyja's order to scan this area once a day is a permanent assignment. He also told me that my duties are changing; since we have never seen this force, he wants me to find out who or what it is. So I will be staying here for a while so, will you three please wait for me inside. I have some business I need to discuss with these two."

Skuld and Urd both grudgingly but obediently walked back into the house with Peorth; Njord waited until they had left and looked at Belldandy and Keiichi, who were still holding on to each others hands. Njord smiled as he said, "Well both of you sure have given us plenty of surprises over the years." Njord said. "I will echo my warning from last night, all I ask is that both of you just be careful, because there are those who will not share your joy."

"We know, we can think of plenty." Keiichi said to Njord.

"I can think of more than you possibly can." Njord said and then looked at Belldandy and Keiichi and took one step closer to them and whispered, "There will be difficult days for both of you, but this bond you two have developed is incredibly strong, so believe me when I say that I am not to worry about it breaking." Njord stopped and then took a step back and then said, "Now, the Almighty has decided to extend my duties down here on Earth and he is requesting that I maintain a low profile while I am here."

"How low of a profile, is he requiring of you?" Keiichi asked Njord

"Well for one thing, I must drop my title so I do not intimidate other humans down here. So please don't call me, Lord or anything else, just Njord and I am to go to work and school, with you." Njord announced. Both looked surprised at the announcement, Belldandy giggled as Keiichi asked,

"How are we going to explain this, we have already used 'the distant relative' excuse, before."

"Once you exceed ten, then it will become a problem, but seeing how you have only used it only four or five times I say it should be alright." Njord said, smiling as more sweat poured down Keiichi's face.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.

PS: Special thanks to my editors Zac Franklin and my mom!! Also I would like to dedicate this chapter to them foe all their hard work and Ideas that allow this story to continue and all other stories.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Mara sat in small alley, wrapped in a blanket to protect her from the rain that fell. She had been sitting their since early that morning and it was getting close to two o'clock in the afternoon. She looked around when she as something smashed to pieces in front of her, startling her. She looked at the remains that were scattered in front of her; it was a statue of a lucky cat.

"Of all the things to be afraid of Mara; yours is Good Luck Charms!" A voice called out. Mara looked up and saw two men floating above her, each were holding more statues, and laughing. The voice came from one of two young men, both of them looked alike. Each had black hair and a fair complexion on their faces, but their eyes were black as night. Their robes were flowing behind them as they levitated in the air.

"I can't touch Good luck charms you idiots!" Mara responded as she rose in the air and meet even with them.

"We're busy Mara, what do you want?" the other man said, he looked the same as the other man, and even sounded the same.

"I'm here on behalf of my boss. She wants to discuss something with your boss. She told me to tell you that she has an offer that she is sure your boss will find intriguing." Mara said looking at each of them.

"What's the offer?" the other said sounding skeptical and annoyed.

"Her assistance, of course." Mara said with a smile more sinister than before.

A week had passed since Njord had arrived at the temple, for the full week Keiichi and Belldandy taught Njord a few things about life on Earth. He had much to learn about culture and other things. Urd gave him some fashion magazines she had gotten, and Njord even watched an event on the JSPN called the Z-Games and looked at a sport called skateboarding, and liked the clothes. So he traded in his robes for a navy colored hoodie with white letters that spelled 'Nekomi' up along the right sleeve, and his boots for sneakers with the words 'Vens' labeled on the side. His hands and arms were bare, but he did have on a wristband on each wrist, under his hoodie was a blue t-shirt, but nobody could really see it. His pants were black mid-calf shorts with a red tag on the back; these shorts also had Velcro pockets along the side.

Armed with the new clothing, and a refreshed history and customs that were on the Earth, Njord set out for his first day as a human. They arrived on the campus in time for the Motor Club's weekly meeting. Tamiya and Otaki arrive about the same time as Keiichi and Belldandy and when they saw another man with Keiichi and Belldandy, they exclaimed, "MORISATO-KUN! YOU BROUGHT A NEW MEMBER!!"

Before Belldandy or Keiichi could do anything, they both embraced Njord in the infamous initiation bear-hug. First, it was Tamiya and then it was Otaki part, Njord was saved by Chihiro upon hearing the commotion outside, came out to investigate the noise.

"TAMIYA, OTAKI!" Both of them backed up and kneeled reverently at her feet, "Please do not kill our guests or prospective members." Both nodded like obedient children in front of their mother. Chihiro walked over to Belldandy, Keiichi and Njord and welcomed them to the club as Sora Hasegawa arrived.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Chihiro; you've already met Tamiya and Otaki. Sorry about that; they just get excited when meeting new people." She said; as Keiichi's sweat pores were already kicking into overdrive.

"It's alright. My name is Njord." Njord said smiling and shaking Chihiro's hand. Some members of the Motor Club noticed the markings on his head and face but it was Sora Hasegawa who asked the question.

"Do you and Belldandy-sanpei know each other?" She asked Njord,

"Yes, we do." Njord responded; at this Keiichi looked like he was ready to burst a blood vessel. Before he could stop himself, he blurred out the only word that came to his mind.

"Cousin!" He squeaked out, his voice as so high pitched, it sounded like he inhaled half a tank of helium. The entire motor club looked at him; but he cleared his throat and bravely trudged on.

"He is Belldandy's cousin." He said, showing a massive fake smile trying to cover his tracks.

"Yes, I am Belldandy's cousin." Njord said winking at Keiichi. Keiichi sigh a breath of relief as Njord took over the conversation.

"So you're Belldandy's cousin?" Sora Hasegawa asked again, this time it was Megumi who spoke up who had just arrived for the meeting.

"Yeah, he was at the house last week, and according to Urd he's visiting for a while." Megumi stated; the Motor Club seemed a bit more relaxed with that statement from Megumi.

"She sure does have a lot of relatives." a member of the Motor Club whispered to Otaki who nodded.

"It's a big family!" Njord then said, nodding his head.

"Okay then, well…um...Njord, welcome to Nekomi Tech's Motor Club." Sora Hasegawa said as the rest of the Motor club was convinced that Njord was Belldandy's relative.

Once everyone was inside the clubhouse people tried to find a spot to actually sit. The only places were you could seat on the crates were very few, most of the Motor Club including Keiichi and Belldandy sat on the floor, Megumi sat with them, but Njord sat on the stairs near the door. Everyone fell silent in a moment, as Chihiro made an announcement to the Motor Club.

"Now we have been invited to participate in an upcoming motorcycle race that's being sponsored by the Tokyo Institute of Technology-Osaka. It is a circuit race and over ten schools have been invited, they originally wanted one Motor Club from one Campus to represent that Institute. But, seeing how we have a yup who decided to bend that rule, we have two now. So they the people at T.I.T.O. have graciously decided to invite both the Four Wheels Club and the Nekomi Tech Motor Club to the race." A cheer erupted in the club house; but Chihiro raised her hand and said, "Okay I know you all love making Aoshima sweat in his Armani suits, but he has one advantage-money. He can get anything he wants and we have to scrounge for support. The rules are the same as any race we have had in the past no NOS and no turbo's on the bikes, we can use carbon fibers and fiberglass to lighten them up. But the bikes we are going to be using I'm getting from an old sponsor, so we will not need to build them." Chihiro announced to the club, and more applause followed as the applause died out, Keiichi eyed the fact that Chihiro was looking right at him.

"One thing I did fail to mention is that this is a Two Team Circuit race, so we will need two racers to represent the Motor Club, and I think everyone can agree with me that only the Morisato duo of Megumi and Keiichi are the best choice we can ask for." With that announcement, every cheered. Megumi suddenly jumped up and shaking her hands said to the Motor Club, "No, no, I can't race with Keiichi!" The cheering died just as soon as she finished the words. Most of the Motor Club was shocked that Megumi would decline to a race, let alone one with her brother.

"I'm sorry but I cannot race with Kei-chan, you need to find some one else," Megumi said quickly.

"Why the hell not? You and Keiichi race each other all the time at practice and tests, why not in a real race." Otaki said out loud.

"There's a reason why I won't race my brother in a real race! It's very-complicated!" Megumi said, filling with shame as she turned towards her brother and then looked down at the floor. She turned to the Motor Club who was still looking at Megumi strangely for declining a race.

"When I was about six years old, Kei-chan and I got were in a bicycle race. We were racing down this mountain path near our home, and it was dangerous. Anyway Kei-chan held the lead for over half of the race, but as we got near the end, we began to get little more aggressive with each other." Megumi said very slowly as she told this story to the Motor Club, she took a breath as she collected her thoughts. "As we got halfway through the final lap, I saw a chance for me to pass him, and I went for it. He blocked me, and I got mad; I turned my bike as he also made his turn and I tapped his back wheel-hard." She stopped, she kept trying to hold back on something, every time she wanted to say it, and it became harder for her. "I hit his back tire and he was thrown from the bike and he landed in a small pond near the trail…" Megumi stopped at this point, as tears swelled at the memory which she had for some time keep hidden away. "… he hit is head at the bottom!"

A gasp filled the Club house as the Motor club heard these words slip form Megumi's mind. "Our dad who was watching, pulled him out, and took him home. Kei-chan was knocked out, and he woke up a few minutes later and he was fine; but I wasn't. So after that race I swore a promise to him that I would never race my brother in a real race again!" Megumi finished the story, and again bowed her head and wiped away the last of her tears that formed in her eyes.

The Motor Club was silent after Megumi told her story. They could tell that this was something that Megumi took very seriously and they would not press her about it, except Tamiya and Otaki.

"If you want we could vote on it, rather than say one can't race they could decide on their own who wants to race." Otaki said, as Chihiro turned silently at him and gave him a face that reduced him to the floor.

"You want them to choose who will race and who won't?" Sora said completely disbelieving what Otaki and Tamiya asked them to do; the rest of Motor Club felt the same way.

Belldandy looked at Megumi as she remained with her head down; Keiichi put his hand on his sister's shoulder and then said to her, "Megumi, I'll withdraw from the race." The Motor Club was shocked at Keiichi's request to her; even Megumi looked at her brother strangely, but nodded.

"I will race in Kei-chan's place." Megumi said, sounding like her old self again.

"Very well, Megumi you will race for the Motor Club and we will allow Keiichi to withdraw." Chihiro told the Motor Club; she then turned to Keiichi and said, "Keiichi, you will find a replacement, but I am warning you I will not accept an average rider. I want someone who rides just as well as you, or maybe even better, got it!"

Keiichi nodded in agreement and the rest of the meting went on without a hitch. As Keiichi, Belldandy and Njord all returned to the row of Motorcycles were they parked their own, they were all quiet. Belldandy looked at Keiichi and when they finally reached the BMW and a scooter Njord was borrowing.

"Keiichi-san, why didn't you tell me about that wreck you had when you were young?" Belldandy asked as she put on her helmet. Njord turned to hear the response as he finished putting on his helmet.

"The truth is I don't remember that crash; I mean all I really remember is turning on the trail and then waking up at home with a headache and Megumi crying and saying, 'I'm sorry'. She said it was her fault, and she swore that it would it never happen, and after that she and I never really raced again." Keiichi said as he put on his helmet and all three of them rode off back to the house.

Keiichi spent the next two days trying to find a replacement for him in the race, but finding a rider just as good as he was a challenge. On the third day Megumi had a race up the pass to see who could keep up with her, the winner had to be at least 10 seconds behind her at the finish line. But the closet racer was one minute and twenty seconds behind her.

Keiichi even tried to use the Whirlwind as a place to advertise, but Chihiro put a stop to that very quickly. As the week was almost over, Chihiro announced to him that she wanted to hold a practice race with the rider and Megumi next weekend and get a rider fast. Keiichi was getting so desperate that he almost called, his father Keima to see if he could come down and race for him, just through the practice race.

As Saturday was setting in the West; Keiichi and Belldandy were returning home from work, his mind racing over how he was going to find a rider. He had asked Belldandy if she could find a rider for him, but she told him that he would find an excellent rider in time for the practice race. This cheered him up considerately, but he was hoping that who ever it was would show up quickly.

So as they pulled into the garage at the temple, he suddenly heard a whining sound rise and fall. He looked at Belldandy for a moment; she heard the same noise as Keiichi and both listened for it again. The noise returned in a few seconds, it was the same whine it rose and fell; it was coming from around the wall next to the garage.

Keiichi and Belldandy came around the wall, just as the whine rose; Keiichi looked at the ground and notice that the racetrack Skuld had built for Sora was out again. Keiichi looked as the sound again rose; he and Belldandy saw Banpei-kun in his scooter form rounding one of the corners, faster than Keiichi remembered. He was carrying someone on his back, but Keiichi or Belldandy couldn't tell who it was. The rider was moving too fast to make a clear identification for them, and when he came close to them he turned on the corner and disappeared from there sight.

Keiichi and Belldandy crossed the track and walked around to the front of the house towards the porch. Urd, Skuld and Peorth were on the porch; Skuld was holding a clipboard in her hand and looking at a digital clock she had set up. Urd had her arms folded as she was leaning against one of the posts. Peorth was floating in mid-air with her hands behind her head. All three were looking at the rider that was on Banpei-kun as he swayed from left to right around the curves of the track. Keiichi observed that this rider handle the curves flawlessly as he accelerated and decelerated.

"Who is that on Banpei-kun?" Belldandy asked as the rider came around again

"Njord." Urd and Peorth both said at the same time

"Njord!" Keiichi asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, he's been at this for almost two hours; he watched that Motorcycle race that you taped almost three weeks ago and wanted to try it out." Urd said as Njord went by again.

"He first started on his scooter, but he couldn't get to go very fast, so then he tried out Banpei-kun." Peorth finished.

Keiichi watched again as Banpei-kun and Njord came around again. Banpei-kun's motor whined as he held the inside and outside. The way he was controlling Banpei-kun was almost like watching someone dance. Keiichi watched as Njord and Banpei-kun disappeared again for another round around the track. Keiichi watched them disappear, but his eyes found the writing on the clipboard that Skuld was holding; the title said, 'Time on Laps'. Keiichi was again shocked at the number that Skuld just wrote down: Lap 224 00:35:98 seconds.

"He was going faster just a few moments before you two got home!" Urd announced, Skuld turned around and saw Keiichi looking at the time, and she withdrew the clipboard from Keiichi's eyes.

"Skuld!" a voice broke before Skuld could say anything. At first Keiichi and Skuld thought it was Belldandy who had said it, but the voice came from up front. Keiichi looked ahead and saw that Njord had pulled up in front of them. He removed his helmet as Banpei-kun was transforming into his regular two leg form.

"That was a blast! I figure Banpei-kun better charge up." Njord said, all very quickly, as he wiped the hair out of his face.

"Your welcome, Njord!" Skuld said proudly

"Thank you again; too bad my scooter can't go that fast." Njord said. Something clicked in Keiichi's head and before he could stop him self he asked, "Want to try something that does?" Everybody turned to Keiichi, who had shut his mouth after making the statement so tight his lips were beginning to turn white; Njord looked at him for a second, and then a smirk grew across his face.

The next week came and went, almost too fast for Keiichi's taste; he had a lot to do. Not only was work and school conflicting as they had always done, but he was also spending some of his time training Njord on how to ride a motorcycle. Njord, turned out to be a very good student, he was learning very quickly, and had learned just about everything he needed in Motorcycle racing in a few days. On the track that Skuld had built, Njord's handling and track times were greatly enhanced.

Finally, the day of the practice race finally arrived. Njord and Megumi were both very excited about the race and everyone in the Motor Club were interested to see the bike that Chihiro said they were going to us. The bikes ended up being new Honda RC51 bikes with 999cc liquid cooled 90-degree V-twin engines. Chihiro kept these bikes at a warehouse that one of her old sponsors had, and the old sponsor did her a favor on getting the bikes from Honda.

Njord and Megumi both suited up for the race, using the last of the funds that they raised from the sponsors, they both wore matching jumpsuits. The jumpsuits were red and black with white letters on the right sleeve that read, 'N.I.T.M.C.C.' with their names also in white across their backs. Megumi and Njord both came out of the club house after getting suited up and were stopped by Chihiro.

"The race is simple, two times around the roads on the outskirts of the campus. First one who crosses the finish line wins; but if you get a ticket, it's your own money!"

Megumi and Njord both went to their bikes, and with a simple turn of the key the engines roared to life. The vibrations were light, and with simple revving of the engines showed the true potential of the power. Megumi watched as Njord adjusted his chin strap and then raised his sun visor on his helmet that Chihiro let him borrow.

"So, my brother told me that he has been teaching you the basics of motorcycle riding. Should I go slow and hold your hand so you don't get lost or scared!" Megumi said, sounding playful. Njord tilted his head towards Megumi, he said, "Try and keep up, child!"

Njord lowered his visor along with his body to make himself more aerodynamic; Megumi smiled as she put on her helmet and waited for Chihiro to give the signal. Chihiro walked out a few feet ahead of the riders and raised both her hands; she looked at both the riders, as Megumi and Njord revved their engines over, waiting for the signal. Finally after what felt like an eternity; Chihiro dropped her arms. The tires squealed and smoke bellowed from them; the smoke clouded everyone from the race. The cloud obscured the rides as they left; only the sound of the engines fading signaled their departure; and as the cloud faded the only thing left were two black marks on the concrete.

Megumi's world became a blur, the only thing that had definite shapes were the things directly ahead of her or in the vast distance ahead. She made the first turn and the whole world came back to view for a moment as Megumi began to weave in and out of traffic. She pasted trucks and cars on the road went in between cars; as she did the more and more she became reckless with her ride.

Megumi looked in her rear view mirror and to her surprise she discovered that Njord was not only keeping the pace, he was directly behind her and closing fast on her from behind. Megumi kept going, making her way to the major roadway that ran behind the campus and connected Nekomi City to the rest of Honshu. As she darted through traffic; Megumi observed that Njord was following her every movement. This really irritated Megumi, the last thing she wanted was a copycat following her.

Both Megumi and Njord made the turn onto the entrance to the highway that had a smaller amount of traffic she tried to lose Njord in the traffic. She was surprised to see that she had not lost him; but that he had found his own path through the traffic and had passed her. Njord flew through the traffic as Megumi got boxed in between a slow moving truck and a small car. Megumi finally found a hole and made her move; she darted across all three lanes of the roadway and hugged the shoulder. She saw Njord proceed off the roadway at the entrance to the road; Megumi opened the throttle and got off the roadway and in a flash was at the turn to go back to the campus. She saw that Njord had braked for the turn and he had slowed down considerably for the turn; here Megumi made her move again, she tapped her brake as she drifted the rear tire across one lane; she caught up and passed Njord on the outside.

'Come on boy, keep up!' Megumi thought to herself as she raced ahead; leaving Njord in her wake.

The next turn was a double T intersection; the intersection was less than one block long. Megumi knew this stretch of road so as she approached the turn, she slowed down for the right turn and then opening the throttle only for a second she made her left turn. Njord saw the turn and saw what Megumi had down, and saw his chance to even the race up a little. Njord tapped his brake at the right turn, but instead; he opened the throttle for three seconds and drifted the turn. Njord opened too much on the throttle and was fish-tailing too close to the curb. Njord was able to stay up and hold the road as he finished his drift and came out of the fish-tail they entered into a long curve that lead directly towards the university.

Belldandy and the others in the Motor Club waited along the curb for the riders to finish the first lap. Many were interested in seeing how far away Njord would actually be from Megumi; most believed he would be almost two minutes to five minutes behind her. So as the sound of the Motorcycles approached the Motor Club; everyone was looking at the sound. Much to the Motor Club surprise; Megumi was not alone, but she was actually fighting to hold onto her lead because Njord was right on her back bumper. In a flash the riders had past, Sora Hasegawa held a radar gun and as they past she announced, "120 km/hr and time is 15:25:78!" The whole Motor Club looked at the time and speed and many changed their predictions of the end of the race.

Megumi and Njord entered the second and final lap of their practice run, and both became more aggressive in their riding. Njord was not copying Megumi, but she was matching his every attempt to past her, when he tried to past her by going around a truck, she would speed up and close the door on him by getting ahead of him.

Megumi and Njord blended into the traffic and weaved in and out of the lanes, trying to get ahead of the other, but the traffic had changed. Instead of being light a few minutes ago, now there was more traffic on the road, so both Megumi and Njord decided to use the shoulder to position themselves. As they made their drive for the entrance back to the road to the campus, Megumi made a sudden discovery; there was a stalled car on the shoulder!

Megumi saw a small hole in the traffic on the motor way and took it, leaving Njord to brake to avoid hitting the car. Megumi smiled as Njord was forced into the traffic further back to her, once she cleared the stalled car, she returned to the shoulder and darted towards the entrance to the street. Njord slowly got around the stall car as well, and as soon as did, he opened the throttle as he sped down the shoulder.

Njord saw that Megumi was about to reach the turn to head for the campus, and saw how far ahead she was. He saw a chance to catch up and he decided to take the chance. He opened the throttle on his bike and then as his bike's front wheel rose from the torque, he screamed up the shoulder, and through the entrance to the street. Megumi saw him coming up the road; she turned into her lane and then a sound came.

Megumi looked behind her as the sound of tires squealing and brakes filled her ears. Njord's front and back brake discs bellowed blue smoke as Njord held the brake lever and leaned his bike so low to the ground, his right knee was dragging across not one but three lanes. Njord was drifting and fish tailing so bad that Megumi thought that Njord had wiped out for a moment, but to her surprise he was smiling. As he rose up for the drift, his bike was able to straighten out and he accelerated to where now he was almost neck and neck with Megumi, in the other lane.

"Oh My God! He just did a knee-grazed drift and was able to recover! I bet that was something Kei-chan didn't teach him." Megumi thought to her self in shock as Njord veered back to the correct lane; Megumi accelerated to almost get away form Njord, but both navigated through the double T intersection and began the final curve to return the University campus as Njord still held on behind her.

The rest of the Motor club waited for Megumi and Njord to finish, many actually thought the race would now be a tie. Their thoughts were only enhanced as the sound of the Motorcycles grew louder, and then finally they appeared. Megumi held the lead, but Njord was still with her; only he was a little ways behind her. The Motor Club erupted in cheers as the riders approached the finish line and the end of the race, and then suddenly the hairs on Belldandy and Njord's necks began to rise, the familiar whooshing sound filled their ears and then.

**PHOOM!**

All time seemed to stop as Megumi's front tire suddenly exploded in front of the Motor Club in a deafening burst and the tire disintegrated off the rim. The rim floated off the ground for a moment; then a shower of sparks signaled the rim and the disc on the brake striking and grinding along the asphalt. The rim and disc hit the ground so hard that, the front suspension and the brakes collapsed from the spoke and went under Megumi's rear tire. Megumi's bike flipped over and launched her into the air like a rag doll.

"MEGUMI!!" Keiichi screamed in horror as he suddenly ran out into the road to try and help her, but Tamiya stopped him. Belldandy closed her eyes and crossing her arms but a voice cried inside her head, 'I got her!" Belldandy opened her eyes and saw that Njord had steered his bike around the wreck and then turned right under Megumi. Njord got in position and Megumi landed on the back of Njord's bike hard, Njord grabbed her arm as soon as she landed and put it around him to insure that she didn't fall off. After he caught her, Njord slammed on his brakes and came to a full stop just at the entrance to the road to the clubhouse.

"Holy crap, he caught her." One of the members said out loud.

Keiichi ran to Njord's bike with Belldandy with the rest of the Motor Club behind them. Keiichi almost tore his sister's head off trying to get her helmet off her head. When he finally got it off, he saw his sisters face; Megumi's eyes were so wide that everyone was sure that they beyond the protective bone ridges in her skull. Her breathing was shallow and irregular, as she was hyperventilating; she was holding on to Njord so tight that her arms were white.

"MEGUMI! MEGUMI SAY SOMETHING!" Keiichi yelled at her, but nothing came form her horror-stricken face.

"OKAY!" Chihiro called out, "You three get her to the club house and call the doctor, and the rest of you get her bike out of the road."

The Motor Club turned and went to the wreck site and began picking up the pieces. Belldandy picked up Keiichi; Njord turned his motorcycle towards the Clubhouse and rocket towards it, as Belldandy and Keiichi flew right along side them. Once they got to the clubhouse, Njord with Keiichi's help got Megumi off the bike; Njord had to piggyback her into the Clubhouse. Once they were inside, Njord ordered the windows open, and Keiichi obeyed.

Belldandy helped Njord by releasing Megumi's grip form around Njord; they both laid her rigid body on the cold concrete. Then Belldandy and Njord both stretched their hands over Megumi and in a second Megumi blinked and she began to panic; she began to scream and thrash as she tried to get up only to be held by those around her.

"Megumi, shut up! Shut up your fine!" Keiichi said loudly, trying to calm his sister down. After a few seconds, Njord put his hand on her forehead, and instantly Megumi stopped thrashing and relaxed. She blinked again and then she saw her brother and very weakly she asked, "What just happened to me, Kei-chan?"

"You had a blow out on your front tire, and you were thrown off the bike; Njord saved you." Keiichi said slowly; he was happy that his sister was okay, but he was now tired from the experience. Njord put his hand back on her forehead. Megumi's eyes started to close, but she tried to hold them open.

"Rest now Megumi, your questions will have to wait." Njord said, Megumi tried to resist, but it was useless she fell asleep in less than a moment. Belldandy looked at Megumi for a moment and then at Njord; Njord looked back at her and when there eyes met, he said to her, "You felt them?" Keiichi looked at Njord and then Belldandy; who simply nodded.

"What are you talking?" Keiichi said confused.

"The Entity!" Njord said grimly.

"Wait, you mean that force that attacked you and Belldandy only a week ago was just here? Why would they attack my sister?" Keiichi asked his confusion and anger rising as he spoke.

"I don't know why they attacked your sister just now!" Njord said he looked at Keiichi as he told them. Keiichi knew that was an honest response, but he was still frustrated at the events, and he slipped out, "If you can't even identify this force; how do you even know it was here!"

Keiichi felt his heart turn cold as Njord turned towards him and gave him a cool look. His eyes that was so gentle only a minute ago, was now a grey, threatening mist that pierced into Keiichi deepest most being. But the threatening eyes only lasted a second, and then Njord's eyes returned to normal; Njord placed his hand on Keiichi's shoulder and then said to him.

"We may not be able to identify this force, but that doesn't mean it can't be tracked!" Njord said. He stood up and walked over to a small table in the corner and picked up the telephone and dialed a number. Keiichi looked at Njord for a moment and then Njord spoke into the receiver.

"This is Lord Njord, patch me through to control. Freyja, did you detect the events down here just a moment ago? You did, did you see any abnormalities around? You did, can you confirm that it was the Entity? NO! I see, okay I understand, good work! Thank you, Freyja!" Njord hung up the phone and turned back to Keiichi.

"Freyja can confirm that the Entity was here, but it was moving so fast that they could not get a lock for identification!" Njord said he looked at Keiichi as he told him, and then he walked over to him and then pointing at Megumi he said, "I promise you, whoever is responsible for this will not go unpunished!"

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Megumi recovered from the wreck very quickly, almost too quickly for some members of the Motor Club. She refused to get on a bike for a day, but the next day she was back on her Kawasaki, riding around town like nothing happened. Some members tried to tell her to take it easy for a few days, but Megumi insisted that she was fine, but that did not stop some of them from riding around town with her, much to Megumi's displeasure.

Chihiro was a different story; the Motor Club took the wreck bike back to Whirlwind and inspected of the damage. The Motor Club concluded that a steel fiber inside the tire caused the blowout but what really crushed her was the fact that the bike was so badly damaged there was no way the bike could be fixed by the Motor Club. She called her old sponsor and told him about the accident; he told her that he can send her a replacement bike, but he would have to charge her for it. Chihiro reluctantly agreed, now she had entered into a larger debt than she thought.

The bike arrived about five days before the race, but instead of being a preassembled bike like the last two were, the replacement was a kit. Choir, Keiichi and Megumi with the help of a few others from the Motor Club worked on the bike on their down time. Everyone helped out as much as they could to get the bikes ready for the race; one night Belldandy found Megumi in a corner shaking and crying, she assured that it was nothing.

The day of the race arrived; the Motor Club went down very early in the morning to step up for the race. The Motor Club was one of the first clubs to arrive and as the sun began to break over the horizon, the race track became a fury of activity. The Motor Club was doing its own second inspection before it handed the bikes over to the judges for the inspection. They were particularly careful to check the front assemblies, suspension and tires on the bikes.

Megumi and Njord suited up for the race in separate trailers, both just put on the jumpsuits and the shoes they would need. Megumi got done first and then she waited for Njord; Njord emerged out of the trailer a few moments after Megumi did. Both walked down the pit lane towards the tent that housed the Motor Club, they walked along the concrete barrier separating the pit crew form the track. The sounds of mechanic hard at work was filling the air, but as Megumi walked past a tent that was revving an engine, her memories came back to her, and she suddenly covered her ears.

"I can't, I just can't do it!" she whispered to herself.

"Yes you can, I know you can!" Njord told her; Megumi was still shaking with fear, and her eyes reflected her fear that seemed to consume her.

"I'm just-, I'm just scared, and what if it happens again?" Megumi said her voice shaking with the fear that had consumed her.

Before Megumi could say anything, let alone react to what was happening to her. Megumi found herself locked in Njord embrace and as she was held by him, a gentle warm breeze suddenly encircled both of them. The breeze swept around both of them and as it rose into the air, all of Megumi's fears vanished from her. She held on tighter in his embrace, and as the breeze began to die out, Megumi heard in her ear.

"If I can save you once, I can save you twice!" Njord whispered to her.

Megumi and Njord finally released from their embrace and Megumi looked into Njord's eyes. His eyes were both soothing and full of trust for Megumi, and she even blushed as she looked into them. Before she could stop herself or tell herself to stop, Megumi raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed Njord on the cheek and said, "Thank you for saving me."

"You're W-welcome." Njord said as his face turned red.

Chihiro was given the twenty minute warning and she gathered the Motor Club around her and the bikes and looked at each one of the members and then she smiled and said to them. "I just want to say to you all that after I graduated from College I've worked for some of the best teams in the Japanese Circuit and the team I always look forward to working is standing in front of me!" Chihiro announced and applause erupted from the Motor Club.

"Well if this is the best team, then I would say that your past teams were less than to par." A voice broke the cheerfulness of the club, the Club turned to the voice and there stood the rival of their club.

Aoshima stood with some members if his club; The Nekomi Institute of Technology Four Wheels Club. He stood with a few members of his club and two men dressed in matching blue and white jumpsuits with the clubs acronyms' on the uniform. Behind them were the bikes they were riding, but the crowd covered the true name of the bikes.

"With a club full of delinquents like this club, I would say that this race is as good as ours." Aoshima said, sounding cocky and snobbish as he always did.

"The race decides that Aoshima, and we've beaten you more than once." Chihiro said sternly.

"That may be true, Miss Fugimi, you are right on the fact that the race is what decides who can talk and who can walk. But if you still wish to use the race to decide the winner then I still stand behind my statement." Aoshima said, pushing his glasses up with his finger.

"What makes you stand with such a statement?" Keiichi asked

"For one thing; your rides are Honda RC51's! Very impressive except that Miss Fugimi rented them from an old sponsor and our rides were not." Aoshima said as he parted the crowd and showed off the bikes. "Honda CBR1000RR and we bought our rides from retail, not rent from a sponsor who sent you a defective bike that almost killed your best rider. But then again wasn't that the theme of the Motor Club, 'We can not have a normal machine!' So a defective bike that can kill should be exactly the spirit the Motor Club likes to always be in!"

The Motor Club was furious at the comment that Aoshima stated to them, and especially taking such a low blow to Megumi. Keiichi had to be held back by Urd, but Urd looked like she was ready to punish Aoshima herself; even Belldandy narrowed her eyes towards Aoshima.

"So the bikes may not be up to your par, but then again we don't need your standards to show that we are a true racing team. We let the riders do our talking and watch them beat yours." Otaki said his fists tightening at his sides, the Motor Club nodded at the statement.

"Yes, your riders may do all your talking, but only one of your best riders is actually suited up, and the other from what I heard he has only been on a Motorcycle for only 60 hours in the past week and a half." Aoshima said, his two matching clothed men, started to chuckle at that statistic. "This is Robert Bale and Richard Crowe, two-time champion in team racing in Australia, and racing champs in New Zealand, and American circuits, with a total of almost 1000 hours on a bike for each of them. Compare that to him and Morisatos' sister I would say that seals the race."

"You say you heard about my wreck, well let me tell you this! Who do you think saved me?" Megumi said everybody was quiet as Megumi finally spoke up; she looked at Njord who was still looking at Aoshima. "Njord, moved around the wrecked bike, and then caught me with less than three seconds to make all those movements."

"Impressive, but this is not a damsel in distress contest, it is a race Megumi-san and it does not change the fact we will win." Aoshima said sounding cocky as ever.

"You never learn do you?" Njord finally said he had been quiet for a long time as Aoshima had ridiculed the Motor Club. "After all this time, you still haven't learned that no matter what you get, who you get or what you do. You can never break this clubs' spirit; let alone beat them."

"You've been in this club how long sir?" Aoshima said trying to blow Njord's comment off, but Njord saw right through him

"How long I've been in the club is irrelevant, what matters is that the fact that in the space of three minutes I have discovered your weakness." Njord said.

"What is my weakness then?" Aoshima said, unimpressed by Njord's sudden cheek.

"That is still debatable; it's either your large egotistical head, or your wagging tongue." Njord said, the Motor Club roared with laughter. "Either way, both of them greatly effect the one source of your power; your money!"

"Wagging tongue and Ego is just part of the game, mate; it what allows a person bragging rights." Robert Bale said outright.

"True, but money can only take you far enough to give you a thirst for victory, but it fails to deliver one thing: heart!" Njord said sounding confident as he looked at Aoshima, "In the past your money has been used to buy everything from race drivers to machines trying to beat this Club. Yet, for all your attempts you still have not even gained anything resembling an advantage against this club; and yet your money has had to suffer for it. But after so many disappointments you think you would have learned, but you haven't yet!"

Aoshima and Njord looked at each other; Njord could see it in Aoshima wanted, why he came over to show off the bike and racers. Njord looked at Chihiro and he could see the sadness and worries in her heart. With all this information in Njord's heart and mind, he cocked a smile and then opened his mouth again.

"So now you're here to try your luck again, and since you have informed all of us that money is not an issue with you. I have a bet that I'm sure you will find intriguing." Njord said sounding confident; some of the members of the motor club turned their heads towards Njord. "Let's see whose heart the fates chose to side with. Both your riders and us will start at the back and stay there for the first lap, after that." Njord just shrugged his shoulders. "We race, and both riders must cross the finish line together."

"What are the stakes to this race?" Aoshima said, sounding unconvinced in Njord's words.

"If we win, you will pay off the bikes and equipment that Miss Chihiro's had loaned from her old sponsor. You will also pay for any tool, part, bill or any project that she may need for her shop for the next six months." Njord said, many including Keiichi and the Goddesses looked at Njord in a very concerned expressions.

"What if we win?" Aoshima asked, sounding intrigued with Njord's offer

"If you win, you get the Motor Club!" Njord said everyone in the Motor Club including Chihiro was looking at Njord. Everyone's expression was different, but each seemed to think that Njord was being reckless; but Njord ignored their expressions. "You get the title, the charter, the membership records, everything down to the last bolt that holds up the clubhouse itself, and-" Njord paused and then said, "-you get me!"

"WHAT!" Urd screamed

"Are you crazy?" Keiichi said Belldandy clasped her hand over her mouth.

"It's not worth it!" Chihiro said sounding completely shocked at Njord proposal. A lot of the other members felt the same way, but Aoshima saw the reaction and before anyone else could anything.

"I agree to the terms!" Aoshima said quickly and loudly.

Njord moved forward and to everyone's horror, he shook Aoshima's hand; sealing the bet. They shook hand for a few seconds and glared into each others eyes, then Aoshima tired to release his grasp, but Njord still held onto it. Njord looked into Aoshima's eyes and said, "I also know about your habit of cheating to gain your favor when you race this club. You may wish to use that ability, but bear this thought. If I see it or even sense it your money will not be able to heal the wounds that I will inflict upon you!" Njord said, his voice breaking into a deep chilling voice, after giving the warning to Aoshima he released his grip. Aoshima's group moved the bikes on the track as the five minute warning came out.

As the club moved the bikes on the track, every member was questioning Njord; they all wanted to know why he would make such a bet. Njord looked at the club as he was about to start the bike and said, "Has this club ever lost a race to him before?" The answer was, 'No' from the club, and Njord then said, "So what makes you think that you will lose this one?" With that statement, the Motor Club stopped asking him the questions; before they turned on the bikes Njord turned to Megumi and said, "After the first lap, move up to the front and I'll keep the door closed on them.

"I need this, and this-" Chihiro said, handing pieces of paper to Aoshima, her face smiling wildly with excitement; while his face was unreadable as the stack got bigger. "I will also need this, thank you for your business Mr. Aoshima!" Aoshima sulked away from her as the Motor Club was placing the last of their things in the truck.

Belldandy watched as the last of the NITMCC gear was placed in the 3WD truck. She turned towards the race track and saw Njord sitting alone on the concrete barrier that divided the track from the pit area. She walked over to Njord and stood next to him and then said, "You did really well today, Njord!"

"Yeah but that last lap really cut it close!" Njord said

The race had started like it had been agreed by both clubs, all four riders started in the back. They stayed in the back of the back of the pack for the first lap, and then after the lap, the race really began. Aoshima pro-riders held the front for the first five laps, and then a wreck on the sixth lap caused one to drop back, giving Megumi a chance to move up; but Njord was stuck in the pack. He spent the last four laps trying to get around the rider Crowe, to move up with Megumi. Finally on the last lap, Njord moved around Crowe on an inside diamond move and shut the door on Crowe from taking him over, then both Megumi and Njord crossed the finish line together.

"Yes, but you and Megumi really did show them up!" Keiichi said who had suddenly appeared from behind to tell them that Chihiro was ready to leave with the rest of the Motor Club. Njord and Belldandy walked with Keiichi over to were they had parked their bikes, and Chihiro was waiting there with one of the Honda RC51's.

"Njord, this is your ride out of here!" Chihiro said, throwing him the keys to the bike.

"Miss Chihiro?" Njord said he was flabbergasted by this turn from Chihiro. "Are you sure?"

"You earned it." Chihiro said.

"But, won't you need both for future races?" Belldandy said

"If I do, I can call the Gorilla in the suit in the next six months and tell him I need another one!" Chihiro said who was still smiling to Njord as she walked over to him, "But if you ever bet the Motor Club again, I may let Tamiya and Otaki kill you." Chihiro said a little darkly.

"I'll bear that in mind." Njord said as he put on his helmet, also smiling.

Back in the run down arcade building Mara had been using as her base of operations, Hild and an older man were sitting across from each other. The older man looked over a piece of parchment after he finished he looked at his signature that he had attached to the parchment. The man slid the parchment back over to Hild and then she rolled it up and handed it to Mara. Mara took the parchment and bowed to her mistress and left he room, leaving her mistress and the man alone. Hild looked at the man with her evil smile and then putting her hands under her chin then said. "There; signed, stamped, and sealed."

"You just be sure to keep your end of the bargain." The old man said pointing his finger at Hild. The man's voice was dark and raspy as he looked at Hild through his raised hood.

"Don't worry about that, you just make sure you get me what I want." Hild said in a threatening tone to the old man.

"I'll get it; but you better be damn sure that your incantation keeps my boys off Yggdrasil's radar." The old man said standing up and was about to leave. Hild sat at the table and then smiling in a devilish smile at the old man.

"Considering what you are doing I would have to say you could have made quite the demon." Hild said to the old man. The Old man turned around and glared down Hild "But, also consider that if you get caught, they will most likely expel you from heaven." Hild said smiling back at him and waited for his response.

"Expel me?" The old man said sounding completely conceded. "I'll be seen as a hero, some one who will save the heavens and the entire universe." He looked at Hild and then said, "Besides, why should it matter to you, you want Urd to come over to your side and we want Belldandy to return home."

"Because Mara and I have faced them before and I can tell you, individually they are strong, but when they work together they can make quite the formable team." Hild said to the old man.

"Is that right?" The old man said with a sneer that grew over his face and the he said, "Well then allow me to educate you on something, the only one we have to concern our self with is Belldandy, you know that." The man said. Hild nodded in agreement because she remembered when she tried to insert a familiar in Belldandy, but Belldandy converted the demon to an angel. Hild still shivered at the memory of that power that Belldandy possessed and a desire to have it consumed her.

"That's where I would question whether or not you plan will actually work." Hild asked still looking at the man.

"That temple may have opposition, but it's really a matter of 'process of elimination'." The man said to Hild, waving his hand. "We have seen the opposition that is at the temple and we know were Mara and you have failed. Besides we have the home field advantage."

"A home field Advantage?" Hild said sound skeptical yet intrigued.

"We are dealing with our own and they know authority and they will obey it. Belldandy will do nothing that goes contrary to a command from anyone higher than herself, we know her well enough to know that." The old man said.

"Still you should remember that he gave all of them their impeccable sense of stubbornness." Hild said.

"If Belldandy does not return to heaven; well one less Goddess for us to deal with, and one less demon for you." The old man said and turned around and left the room, leaving Hild alone in the room.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.

Thanks for reading, Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The excitement that came from the Motor Club winning the race lasted a few days and then it all went back to normal. But for at least two members it was still a thrill, mainly because of the outcome of the bet and both were reaping the rewards. Njord was taking his new Honda everywhere he went; he went down to Whirlwind after the first day and Chihiro gave him a few pointers on Motor cycle's maintenances.

Chihiro was the other that was reaping the rewards that stemmed form the bet. In less than two days, she was debt free and had no debt, and she could get anything she needed. She even helped Njord register the bike and even helped him get a license for his Motorcycle. She sent the bill for the registry; with a part order to Aoshima, along with a thank you card.

As the week turned into the weekend, everything seemed to go back to normal. Then early Saturday morning, Belldandy, Peorth and Njord woke up again to the same paranoia feeling that they woke up only a few weeks ago. Although with a confirmation from Yggdrasil showed nothing was out there, it did not change Njord's way of thinking. For the rest of the weekend he and Skuld worked together to add some extra security around the temple.

The first thing they built was for Banpei-kun and Sigel, it was a new sensor that Skuld had built that was similar to the Yggdrasil level Eight scanner that Heaven had. The major difference was the fact that its range was only hundred yards around the temple ground. Because of that flaw, Skuld and Njord both set up a transmitter that was directly tied into the Yggdrasil Level Eight Scanner, allowing for closer proximityscans in larger areas. Njord even sent Peorth back to heaven to make sure that the connection was established; she came back and reported that it was.

After the new scanners and transmitter became functional the feeling left the temple ground and life returned to normal. Even though the feelings were gone, Njord would not let down the extra security for any reasons; not that anyone would object. The new week came and went, as did the second week, still nothing had happened or even registered on the scanners.

The third week arrived, nothing was registering on the scanner or even Banpei-kun and Sigel, and Njord was worried. He was worried that the entity may not show up, but he was also revealed that the entity seemed to go into hiding. He still would not take down the security that he and Skuld had set up; he would still stay with Keiichi and Belldandy at school and work as well. Njord had become a delivery boy for Chihiro, he did not mind the job, and he left a sub-part of himself at the shop to keep an eye on things.

As the third week was halfway over, Megumi came over for lunch as Urd and Peorth were watching the movie that Megumi had loaned almost a month ago, again. They were cheering as two men with colored swords fought each other on a platform; both were caught up in the moment. Belldandy was finishing up the preparations for lunch when Njord, Keiichi and Megumi came in from there repair work. Skuld was down by the river watching one of Sentaro's races.

They all enjoyed lunch, and less enjoyed Urd's and Peorth's cheers at the movie; Njord's eyes suddenly strayed to the door. A knock came at the door and before Njord could answer, Belldandy got to the door. Belldandy appeared a few seconds later and said, "Njord, it's for you!" Njord arose and walked over out of the tea room. Megumi and Keiichi looked through a mirror as Njord walked down the hallway towards Belldandy and another woman, Njord approached her, she bowed to him and said, "My Lord, I bring word from Heaven!"

"Very well, Dilate lets go somewhere private and talk." Njord said, as he raised Lind up and led her outside and shut the front door. As he did his eyes met with Megumi's and Keiichi's eyes as well, both gasped and went back to their food. Belldandy returned in a moment, and finished the lunch with them, as Urd was now reaching her favorite part of the movie. In a few minutes the door to the tea room opened and Njord was standing in the doorway, he motion towards Belldandy and Keiichi to follow him.

Both followed him silently and obediently out the door and down the hallway and followed him into Skuld's room. Njord then shut the door and turned to them and said, "Dilate has just told me that the Almighty is calling a council to hear a report on the current situation down here, so I need to return to Heaven."

"When will you need to leave?" Keiichi asked.

"As soon as I am done here, I can tell you that those three will probably get you two to spend some time together, which I will not object to. But if you do decide to go out for a bit, be careful, alright. I know we have a lot of extra security around the temple but a little extra awareness can't hurt either." Njord said

"We will be, Njord!" Belldandy said, and then with a smile Njord disintegrated and floated out of the room and out the door, he then flew skywards.

Keiichi and Belldandy both left Skuld's room and returned to the tea room, and found Urd still watching the movie. Megumi was doing the dishes for Belldandy; Belldandy told Megumi that she would do them, but Megumi insisted that she wanted to do them. Urd turned from the movie and convinced Keiichi to take Belldandy out for a while, she was able to convince him with a threat of lighting strikes. Keiichi with the extra help from Urd was able to convince Belldandy to go and do some shopping with him, and both left the house in a few minutes.

Njord's arrival into heaven was unannounced; he materialized in the corridor that leads to the Council Room. He was fully dressed in his Council robes, and everything he knew he would have to wear for his session. He walked down the corridor and looking out over the landscape of heaven he felt joy at being backed home. He walked into the foyer of the council and walked up to the massive white door, and without using any powers they opened for him. He expected to see a full Council room, but to Njord's surprise, the council room was completely empty.

Njord was confused at the eerily quiet Council room that was before him, but Njord's mind had flashed, 'I'm probably just early.' Njord walked past the row on seats and gazed out the window that overlooked not only Heaven, but also the Earth and the Moon. Njord looked out the window at the Earth for a few minutes until suddenly the doors to the Council Room opened. Njord turned and found that the Almighty was standing in the doorway; Njord dropped to his knees as the Almighty looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"Njord, what are doing here?" The Almighty asked him, his tone was showing some concern.

"Your Lordship has called a council, and asked me to report on the situation." Njord said, he was equally confused and concerned.

"I called no council, Njord; who told you this?" The Almighty asked, his voice booming of concern

"Your Lordship sent Dilate the Valkyrie to the temple, and she informed me that you had called a council." Njord said, both he and the Almighty stood looking at each other.

"Njord, Dilate has been guarding the Access Panels herself for the past two days, she has not left the panels." The Almighty said.

Njord's confusion turned to shock in a moment; he was completely dumbfounded by this announcement from the Almighty. Suddenly a thought had pasted through his mind, which made his blood run cold, 'If that wasn't Dilate-' then suddenly Njord shouted, "OH NO!" Njord ran away form the windows and ran past the Almighty, as he did the Almighty looked at him and his voice called in Njord's mind, 'Hurry!' Njord ran pasted the door and running into the corridor, he disintegrated and like a strong wind, he flew through Heaven and then past the Gate and streaked towards Earth.

Belldandy and Keiichi were walking back up the road from the shopping district with their groceries in hand. Belldandy and Keiichi talked as they navigated through the streets and the sidewalks of Nekomi City towards the road that would take them home. As they turned a corner and started walking along a row of buildings; Belldandy suddenly stopped and closed her eyes. Keiichi looked at her for a moment and then said, "What is it?"

"I heard someone cry, just down the Alley." Belldandy said as she opened her eyes after a few second; Keiichi nodded.

Belldandy and Keiichi walked a little further and then turned into the Alley that was behind a row of building. As they entered the Alley, they both small girl sitting on the ground, she was crying. The girl looked like she was only six years old; her hands were turning white as a ghost form holding one of her knees tightly. Her face was obscured with her long black hair that shrouded her tear soaked face. Belldandy kneeled close to her and said, "What's wrong dear?"

"I-I wa-was ski-skipping and I-I fe-fell down, and I-I hu-hurt my kn-knee!" The little girl sobbed out; Keiichi was barely was able to cipher what she said, but Belldandy heard every word that the girl. Belldandy smiled at her and then slid her hand away from her knee. A small cut and a few streaks of road rash were on the girls knees, and a small grain of rock was even the cut.

Belldandy raised her hand over the wound and a small light formed under her hand as she lowered it to her knee. Suddenly the girl grabbed Belldandy's hand and began to breathe quickly; Belldandy did not change for a moment, or turn the hand away. She looked at the girl and then said, "This will not hurt, I promise." The girl relaxed, but would not release her hand from Belldandy. Belldandy moved the light on the girls wound and in a second the light faded and the wound was healed.

"Thank you-" the little girl said, her voice sounding clear and sweet.

"Your welcome!" Belldandy said as she started to rise, until a voice came back from the girl.

"-Belldandy!" the little girl suddenly said, her voice was nothing what it was just a moment ago. The voice was clear, but instead of being sweet, it was dark, evil. Belldandy looked at a wind blew the girl's hair away from her face revealing her. She was indeed a child, and had the sweet face of a child, but some other things made her more chilling. Her skin was pale and thin, and her eyes were black as her hair, and one her forehead was a small black dot. Above each of her eyebrows where two different marks, on the right was a blue triangle; on the left was a red compressed diamond. She also had a victorious smile on her face that made Belldandy's blood run cold.

"Hel!" Belldandy whispered, in shock.

Hel looked at Belldandy for a second and then gnashing her teeth, and with tightening her grip on Belldandy's wrist. Hel's arm suddenly flashed as lighting shot from her arm and into Belldandy's arm. Belldandy screamed as the force entered her arm, she could not move as the surge pasted through her. Belldandy tried to pull away but the more she tried the more Hel held on to her and more power she sent into her. What felt like an eternity, but only lasted then less than a second, Hel released her grip form Belldandy; Belldandy collapsed and felt completely drained.

"BELLDANDY!" Keiichi yelled. Belldandy could not move, but she heard his shoes grind on the pavement as he started to run towards her. As she laid waiting for him, a new sound filled Belldandy's ears, and her heart with terror: the whooshing noise she heard only three weeks ago. This time the whooshing sound was no longer a sound, this time it materialized out of the corner of her eye. It took a shape and moved past her and she heard a gasping noise behind her; Belldandy using the only strength she had left was able to turn over and saw as Keiichi disappear into a green light with two men.

"BELL-"Keiichi screamed, and then he was gone, with the light.

"_**KEIICHI-SAN**_!" Belldandy screamed her voice shattered all the windows around the alley and a few blocks away. Belldandy suddenly found her strength back, and she turned to were Hel was sitting, but she was gone. Belldandy looked around the Alley, and found that she was the only one left in it, the only thing that showed Keiichi's presence were two grocery bags that had fallen to the concrete, and one of the bags was leaking soy sauce. Belldandy's fear began to consume her; and as it did a sudden wind blew around her. Belldandy looked around and saw a ball of the light was coming from above her. Belldandy eyes narrowed as the light appeared to get closer, she called forth Holy Bell and both stood ready for what was in the light. The light disappeared and Njord descended and landed only three feet away form her. Njord just had to simply look into her eyes he saw everything; Njord took a sharp breathe and then said "I'm too late!"

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.

To all the readers who take their time to read this story, I thank you deeply and hope that you will please give me a review.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Keiichi mind was swimming in darkness as the feeling in his body was slowly coming back to him. He felt suspended in the air; but he felt the ground underneath him. The only thing he did not feel was his arm, but a simple wiggle of his fingers confirmed for him that his arms were attached to him. As the feeling finally consumed the rest of his body a sudden sharp pain passed through him and his eyes snapped opened.

"It's about time you woke up!" a voice said.

The voice came from a young man, who looked to be Keiichi age, but was completely different from him. He had black hair and a fair complexion on his face, but his eyes were black as night. His robes were flowed behind him as he took a few steps away from Keiichi and stepped into a small pocket of light. He had marks on his forehead, the same as the girl that he and Belldandy met in the Alley.

Keiichi also looked at the room he found himself in, the room seemed to stretch for an eternity, but it also seemed to be so small as well. All over the only light that came into the semi-lighten room came from small dots of light as they shone on the room. Even through Keiichi felt the ground underneath his feet, he felt strangely weightless; he even found it a little difficult to breathe.

"Where am I?" Keiichi asked, and from a darken corner came his answer.

"Can't your fraught breathing give you some idea to that small, shallow brain of yours?" A voice came from the corner, as the voice died out a man appeared in the light. He was much different then the others Keiichi had seen just a moment ago.

The man that stood before him was a much older man, he looked to be in his early sixties as his beard and hair was white as snow. His face had small wrinkles, and had a face that showed the wisdom and elegance that graced him. His eyes were black like the others, but inside them held some cunning and villainy that made Keiichi heart freeze, under his eyes were pupils that were red like a flame. As Keiichi looked at the man, he saw something familiar on the man, he had the same marks as Njord, but instead of blue they were red.

"I see that you have already met Lord Njord. Well that will leave the explanations that would have been needed-obsolete; at least Njord was kind enough to do that. I guess now would be a good time to introduce you to his principal, my name is Loki; Lord Loki!" Loki announced to Keiichi.

"Why am I here, Lord Loki?" Keiichi asked inquisitively with a strong sense of force. Loki was not amused by the sudden onslaught that Keiichi took to his question, he looked at Keiichi.

"You tone will not be able to get your questions answered any faster human, so I suggest you change it!" Loki hissed through his teeth, his demeanor shaking as he spoke.

Keiichi's body trembled as a tremor flowed from the bottom of his spine and carried through out his body over his nerves. He took a large gasp of air and in a moment had calmed down, and made a correction in his tone and then said, "Why am I here, My Lord?"

Loki looked at Keiichi for a moment and then in a flash, Loki's hand had emerged from his robes and the he pointed to the walls of dots. "You are here to answer the charges for the crimes that you have committed against them!" Loki's voice shook with anger as he pointed to the wall; Keiichi was confused as he looked at Loki and the other behind him.

"Your crime that you have committed is especially heinous, and carries a very stiff penalty with it, but you are also here to accept our offer of reconciliation." Loki continued.

"What if I chose to reject your offer?" Keiichi asked, confused by his announce of a crime he committed.

"Simple, you will die!" Loki said sounding cheerful at that prospect.

"Yes My Lord! Hel was in the Alley, Belldandy can confirm it, I seriously think that this-" Njord said into the receiver, he paused as he waited for the chance to speak. Belldandy was sitting in the tea room with Skuld, Urd and Peorth as they sat listening to the conversation Njord had on the phone. Belldandy was sitting in the room, but she was not listening unlike her sisters; instead she was staring into the table completely incoherent to the events happening around her.

"My Lord a client has been taken, and one of our own is responsible for his disappearance. Yes, but Belldandy can not find him anywhere close by or even if he is on Earth, yes I understand! I will be there shortly, please excuse my tardiness." Njord hung up the phone and walked into the tea room and looking at the four Goddess that sat before him and he said, "The Almighty is organizing heaven and is starting a search for Keiichi!" Skuld and Urd looked at Belldandy, his target audience, but she displayed no emotion or reaction to the news that Njord gave.

"Belldandy we'll find him!" Njord said trying to reassure her, but still no reaction.

Njord disintegrated and floated out the window keeping his eyes on Belldandy; as he left. Skuld and Urd did not watch Njord leave the house, they're attention was still focused on their sister who remained as rigid as she was when they got home. Belldandy as showing no emotion on her face and on her body, her eyes held no warmth that Peorth, Skuld and Urd were accustoming to. Skuld was slowly moving her hand towards Belldandy, before she made contact Urd saw what she was doing. Urd tried to interject but Peorth stopped her as Skuld got to Belldandy before Urd could do anything; Belldandy felt the gentle sway of Skuld's warm touch on her cold body.

Belldandy blinked and looked at her sister, she first looked at Skuld, and then Urd, and then Peorth she saw the grave concern that they had for her; she bowed her head back just like before. They all sighed and then looked at each other and as they did, "I did nothing!" Belldandy said.

"I just laid there and did nothing to help Keiichi-san!" Belldandy said she voice was shaking as small tears flowed down her cheek.

"Onee-sama, your powers were being sealed by Hel herself; there was not much you could have done!" Skuld said trying to make Belldandy understand reason, but Belldandy would not budge.

"I could have done something, why did I not see that it was her?" Belldandy said franticly.

"Belldandy, Hel has a very powerful father and I'm sure that he taught her a few tricks that he knows. She has the ability to fool even the deities that reside in the heaven and hell, you are no exception!" Peorth said trying to convince Belldandy that she did nothing wrong, but Belldandy just sat there.

"Lord Njord just told us that Yggdrasil is being mobilizing to find him and they will!" Urd said, sounding fiercely contemptuous for her sisters' feeling of failure in protecting Keiichi.

"I will not forgive myself if something happened to him and I could have prevented it!" Belldandy said in a final tone as the tears continued to stream down her face.

Keiichi was looking at semi-lit room he was being held in as he remained attached to the wall. He was looking at the three deities and one Element that stood before him, but he could only see the Element named Loki staring at him. Keiichi was just informed that he was there to answer for his crimes he had committed against the stars.

"What is my crime against them, My Lord?" Keiichi asked towards Loki and pointing his head at the stars that glistened like the night sky he had remembered.

"Your crime against them is endangering their very existence and the existence of every living thing in the universe!" Loki announced, Keiichi heard the charges but was confused by the meaning of the crime he seemed to be guilty of.

"Since your feeble human mind can not possibly compute the full extent of your charge; I will elaborate for you!" Loki said and the turning towards the stars he said, "When this universe was formed and life began to exist on the Earth, certain laws and balances were established to help maintain the stability of that world. Laws and balances that were set by the Almighty himself; and all life agreed to obey them, and as long as obedience to these laws were followed the universe, the balance it needed to survive remained in tact."

Loki looked back at Keiichi and with his eyes glowing yellow like a hawk, he pierced into Keiichi's soul and saw what he was looking for. "One of the Laws that were established is called the law of Segregation. This law was designed to allow the human race to establish itself on Earth without the full extent of assistance it relied on from heaven. Ergo, we separated from you to allow your race to achieve your own purpose without constantly calling us to fix the problem. But we never abandoned you, we simply stayed in the shadows and watched your race expand and sweep over the Earth."

Loki walked over towards Keiichi and coming face to face to Keiichi, Loki hissed out the words, "'I want a Goddess like you to stay with me always!' Those words broke that law. Those words that slipped from your tongue and the wish being granted are what upset the balance and is the reason why you are here!"

"If my wish was a violation of a law then why was it granted?" Keiichi asked his voice filled with disbelief.

"Because it was sent to Yggdrasil by a first-class Goddess, because she believed it came from the bottom of your heart." Loki whispered in Keiichi's ear; Keiichi first thought was Belldandy. When an image of her smiling faces flashing in his mind; Keiichi suddenly felt his air being blocked by a hand around his throat. "She is a Goddess, and you are a human and nothing can prevent the inevitable-one day she will have to return to heaven and you will be all alone!" Loki then released Keiichi's throat and air returned to him, as he struggled to regain his air; Keiichi looked back at Loki.

"So you're saying I violated this law of Segregation, but you still are not saying how!" Keiichi said, and with that statement Loki swooped down on him again and then grabbing his throat again.

"EVERYTHING HAS A BALANCE, AND EVERY LAW MUST BE OBEYED, WITHOUT QUESTION!" Loki screamed into Keiichi face, his saliva spraying across Keiichi's face; Loki finally let go of Keiichi's throat and then said, "Everything must be separated, Male and female, Light and Darkness, Water and Earth, Gods and Goddess, Mortal and Immortals. They are separated to allow themselves to ascertain their true potential; as mortals your duty was to the care of your race and the world you were given to exist on. As immortals we are given a higher calling, it is our duty to care for the whole universe and all things that are alive on it, including your race!" Loki said, and then turning away form Keiichi, he looked out towards the stars again.

"When you made your wish and she sent it to heaven, it was your true wish, and yes that is why it was accepted. She stayed with you until the contract became void, but then the crime was committed again, she stayed with you of her own free will!" Loki said and then turning towards Keiichi he said, "That is why she holds the same guilt as you do, and she broke the same law as you did, but her penalty will be much more severe than yours."

Skuld moved the phone into the tea room and continued to look at Belldandy who was still sitting in the corner. Urd was in the kitchen making some tea, she was on her second attempt; the first set was too bitter, even by her potion making abilities. As the second batch was being finished, all four Goddesses attentions suddenly turned to the front door as it slammed open.

"KEI-CHAN!!" a voice screamed through out the house, it was Megumi. "KEI-CHAN, PLEASE ANSWER ME!!"

Before Skuld or Urd think of a plan; Belldandy rose to her feet and walked out into the hallway. Megumi was standing on the step and seeing Belldandy, along with Skuld and Urd, her heart took courage.

"Belldandy, have you seen Keiichi? I was riding my bike and I heard he had been abducted by something like-Ninjas or something!" Megumi said very fast, he was become hysteric.

"He was abducted, but not by ninjas, this was something else!" Belldandy said; Megumi's heart splashed in her stomach, and she looked at Belldandy and then Peorth; she saw in their eyes she could see the truth, but in her mind she was confused.

"What do you mean by something else? Like what, Belldandy you know where he is all the time, are you telling me that you can not find him?" Megumi asked franticly.

"No, I can not find him!" Belldandy said letting her head fall down again.

"Did you even file a report with the police?" Megumi said loudly at Belldandy.

"The police can not find him, we can not tell you who took him, but it was not something this world has seen." Urd said, trying to reassure Megumi, but it was futile.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN, 'NOT SOMETHING THIS WORLD HAS SEEN!!" Megumi said, looking at Urd and then Belldandy.

Belldandy turned to her sisters and Peorth and with a look, they knew what she was going to have to do, both nodded to her. Belldandy turned towards Megumi who was standing in the doorway looking both confused and angry. Belldandy took one step closer to her and then said, "Megumi, please do not look away." Belldandy then clasped her hands together, and a column of light consumed around her. In another second, Megumi watched as Belldandy emerged, but not in the clothes she was just wearing, but in her Goddess attire.

Megumi watched as Skuld and Urd followed in their sister's example and then followed Peorth; all of them suddenly changed into their Goddess attire. Megumi stayed frozen in her feet as the four women that stood in front of her even called forth their angels. Megumi's body changed so fast it was very unnerving for her, at first she wanted to run away, but her feet would not move. Next, she wanted to faint, but her balance remained with her; next she wanted to throw up, but her stomach would not produce it for her.

"Megumi, my sisters and Peorth are Goddesses from heaven!" Belldandy said quietly reading the shocked expression that filled Megumi's face.

"How is that possible, you have been here for years and…?" Megumi said, but she found she lost the words.

"Megumi about seven years ago, your brother called Heaven and Belldandy came to him to accept his wish." Urd told her gently as Megumi was till standing there shocked by what she was hearing. "He made a pretty reckless wish, but it was accepted and she has been here ever since."

"I want a Goddess like you to stay with me always!" Peorth said to Megumi, who finally started to relax.

"It is listed in the archives of Heaven and listed with God himself." Skuld said in a soft but final tone.

"That was the contract that I entered into with Keiichi-san." Belldandy said. Megumi looked at Belldandy and then at Skuld and Urd.

"So you're telling me that you are only here to fulfill his wish, and as soon as it's over, you're gone and leave him all alone!" Megumi said silently at first and then hissed out in anger.

"Megumi watch it or else you'll have me to deal with!" Urd said threateningly and Skuld was reaching into her clothes and arming a Skuld bomber, Peorth's angel started to show her rose vines.

"I don't give a crap what you will do with me, but what I want to know is why Belldandy; a girl who professes to love my brother. That the only reason she is still here is just so she can fulfill some contract and then dump him when she think his wish is over!" Megumi hissed at Belldandy and then the three Goddess acted. They charged at Megumi; Megumi raised her fists at them, but Belldandy cried.

"_**STOP IT!!"**_

The whole house shook from its foundation to the small bolts that held the roof in its place. Megumi, Urd, Skuld and Peorth stood in stunned silence with their hands covering their ears as the sound waves rippled through out the hallway. Skuld, Peorth and Urd were still on their feet, but Megumi found herself on the floor and looking into Belldandy's eyes. Belldandy's eyes did not show any sign of hate or hurt feelings form Megumi, but instead it showed compassion. Belldandy sat down next to Megumi who tried to scoot away form her, but Belldandy touched her hand and she stopped.

"I am here with Keiichi-san because I want to be here with him. No one is forcing me to stay here." Belldandy said, as Megumi looked into Belldandy trusting eyes as she finished, "I love him with all my heart, and I will remain here only until he tells me 'Farewell.'"

Megumi heard these words from Belldandy, and in a moment the feeling of nausea and guilt ridden her very soul. Megumi's eyes swelled with tears and she turned away from Belldandy and covering her eyes with her hands she sobbed into them. Belldandy scooted closer to her and wrapped her arms around Megumi and then cried with her, both covering each other shoulders with each others tears.

"Why is Belldandy's punishment going to be more severe than mine?" Keiichi asked Loki with shock at his announcement, his breathing was starting to get shallower and he was getting weaker from lack of oxygen.

"Because she is Immortal and she is a first-class Goddess and she should know the laws of heaven better than anyone, and she knowingly broke the law. We can not let such a crime go unpunished, even if she did it because of your wish; but we know that both of you have protected each other. You have protected her from the dangers of your world, and she from the dangers from her. Which is another reason you are here, you are here to hear an offer of reconciliation not only for yourself but for her as well." Loki said, and with that he reached into his robes and pulled out a rolled up parchment, and allowed it to unroll.

"This is a contract from me to you, a new contract and a chance to stay the judgment that waits for both of you. Upon signing and entering the contract, you will release Belldandy from your charge and everything that the wish has bound her to do. She will return to heaven, and both of you will have your memories erased of your time together and you will get a new wish. You can wish for anything you want, but you will not wish for her return or to remember her at all." Loki said, holding up the contract and looking at Keiichi.

"That is your offer of reconciliation to clear the charges?" Keiichi said as he struggled to say his words from the air running out of his lungs.

"It is the only offer that we will give you, human it's either this or you will die!" Loki said, and looking at Keiichi hand as it became free from the wall. Loki, using his powers raised his hand towards the paper and then said, "Salvation is found in just a touch, human!"

Keiichi looked at the blank roll of parchment that Loki held out in front of him. He felt his arm being raised by something other than his own strength and the rest of his body feeling limp. Keiichi looked into the fiery eyes that were Loki's and he saw what Loki was doing, and then using all of the strength he could muster, Keiichi pulled his hand and arm away from the parchment.

In a moment, Loki threw the parchment towards one of the figures standing behind him. He then slammed Keiichi's hand upward against the wall and then with a rage in his eyes that made Keiichi's blood run chill, Loki stretched his hand against Keiichi. The pain that coursed through him was nothing Keiichi had ever felt before in his life; like fire that burned all over him from his hair even into the smallest fiber of his body, as the pain consumed him his lungs lost oxygen as he screamed in pain.

Belldandy's eyes flashed and her whole body shook and as it did a purple bolt of lighting escaped form her. Like a bullet form a gun, it shot from her and hit the table in front of her, the table split in half spilling all the contents on the floor. The bolt shot right past Urd's right ear; she only had a fraction of a second to react to the bolt. The Bolt shot through the door of the kitchen and ricocheted around the kitchen before making the window explode as the bolt left the house. All this happened in only two seconds, but it felt like an eternity to all who sat in the house.

Belldandy looked at the table and then at all who sat in the tea room, Megumi looked at Belldandy from across in both fear and amazement. Skuld and Urd looked at their sister also with amazement, but not in the same sense of fear that Megumi had, only concern. Peorth looked at the hole and then the table and then Belldandy. Everyone was at a lost of words at what Belldandy had just done, but before anyone could say anything, the phone rang.

"Morisato residence!" Skuld said into the receiver, she had the phone next to her, and in a moment she handed the phone to Belldandy, "It's Njord!"

Belldandy took the phone from Skuld and placed it to her ear, and then Njord's voice filled her ears, "What was that, we just detected a power surge coming from you what is going on?"

"I heard him screaming!" Belldandy said, everyone was looking at her and the announcement sent another shock through the room, and even heaven because Njord didn't say anything at first.

"You heard him screaming, do you know where the screaming came from?" Njord asked her over the phone. Belldandy closed her eyes and held them tightly for almost ten seconds and then she opened her eyes.

"No, I can not trace it!" Belldandy said depressed by this news.

"If you hear that screaming again, concentrate on it because with that we can probably trace the origin." Njord said and then hung up with Belldandy, leaving her alone again with the other four in the room.

Keiichi was finally able to catch a breath after Loki lowered his hand away from him, but his breathing was shallow and rapid. As his breath finally came back to him Keiichi felt a hand grasp around his throat again. "YOU HAVE A FAILURE TO COMPREHEND THE CURRENT SITUATION YOU ARE IN! THIS IS THE ONLY PATH YOU CAN TAKE TO SAVE NOT ONLY YOURSELF BUT FOR THE ONE YOU PROFESS TO LOVE!!" Loki screamed into Keiichi's ears, Keiichi almost went deaf after hearing all this.

"You-want-me to-reject-and toss-away-the only-thing that-makes me-happy,-just-to save-myself?" Keiichi asked weakly.

"No matter how much you both hope for it one day both of you will be separated. There have been others in the past and they have deeply loved each other more than you two have, but now they only exist as legend." Loki whispered to Keiichi's ear and then spoke calmly to him. "When that day comes who will comfort you, who will comfort her! Have you thought about her, it is much more painful for her, a Goddess to exist with that pain then it will for you? I am offering both of you a chance to make it less painful and to allow both of you to fix the problem you created without facing punishment."

Keiichi using all the strength that was left in his body raised his head and looked directly into Loki's eyes. His courage took hold of him and with some of his precious oxygen that he had left in his lungs. "I-made her-a promise,-I promised-her-that I-would never-send her-away-because I-love her." Keiichi took another deep breath and then continued, "I want-a Goddess-like you-to stay with me-always! It was-my wish and-my wish alone-and I would rather-suffer the most-terrible death imaginary-than reject that-wish-and her!" Exhausted from using the last of his strength, lowered his head but he continued to look at Loki.

Keiichi watched as Loki looked at him for a moment and then he turned around and walked away form him. As Loki walked back towards the shadows, he stopped at one of the smaller figures and silently nodded. The smaller figure walked out of the shadows, and Keiichi recognized her instantly; it was Hel. Hel reached into her robes and pulled out in between her fingers was a small gold disk about the size of a tea saucer. With a few movements of her fingers she placed on the top of her fist and then began to flip it like a coin.

Hel did this for a few seconds and then she pocketed the disk, and then she reached up to the hem of Keiichi's t-shirt. With a sudden jerk, and a tear she ripped the shirt open to reveal Keiichi bare chest, the tear stretched from the hem to over halfway down. Hel took a look and then reached back into pocket and pulled back out the disk and this time she placed it in her open hand for Keiichi to look at it. The disk was small, but it had runes that were written along the edges, but in the center was a mark. The mark Keiichi had seen before, but could not remember where he had seen it.

"You know, we really didn't want to do this but in your stupidity and stubbornness you left us no choice. Not that I'm bitter, I actually enjoy my job!" Hel said sounding viciously sweet as the sound of her enthusiasm echoed from her statement.

Hel walked back up to Keiichi and put the disk on his skin, Keiichi gasped again as the cold metal touched his bare chest. Hel held the disk for a moment as she whispered a chant, after a few seconds Hel released her grip on the disk, but the disk remained on his chest. As Keiichi looked at the disk a reddish-purple light grew form the disk and began to consume his whole body. As the light finally absorbed the last of Keiichi's light it made him glow and then the light changed to a light green. The light stayed that way for a few seconds and then began to withdraw; suddenly a pain shot from Keiichi's fingers and toes.

This pain was nothing Keiichi had experienced before, not even the pain that Loki had put him through. This pain was different; it was a sensation like a painful tickle, ripping and tearing and like his spirit was being torn form his body. The pain was excruciating and all his nerves felt it and his body started to thrash around as the light and the pain drew back to the disk.

Belldandy's body suddenly went cold, and she felt her heart stop, a painful feeling flashed through her. Her body went rigid as a purple light flashed from her mark and then pasted down into her whole body. As the pain and the light spread form her, the tea room also began to react, the light swept over the room, and the house and the grounds. The feeling of the pain shot through her body and even seeped past her seals to where the air in the room began to swirl. Light objects began to spin as Belldandy tighten her hands over her heart, and the Earth began to shake with her pain. Urd stood up and tried to call her but her replies fell deaf on her, and it got to a point that Peorth opened the kitchen door as Skuld and Urd grabbed Megumi and all four of them hid in the kitchen and closed the door.

In the control of Yggdrasil, the alarms began to blare; Njord and Freyja who were watching the scanners suddenly had to turn their attentions to the Alarms. Chrono already brought up the source of the Alarms, "It's Belldandy My Lord! She is surging power again, but she is about to break her seals!"

"CONTACT THE TEMPLE, NOW!!" Njord yelled and Ex made the call, Njord reached for the phone, but Ex called up, "Unable to contact the temple, Lord! Belldandy's surge is interfering with the signal we need." Njord heard these words and looking at the alarm flashing on the screen he whispered to himself, "Belldandy, what is going on down there!"

In the council room, the Almighty sat waiting for the results of the scans from Yggdrasil when suddenly the Alarms went off. The Almighty suddenly stood up and before he even heart the report, a terrible pain when through his heart. The Almighty in two steps he was at the window that looked down on the Earth and stretched his hand towards and closing his eyes, he said, "Belldandy don't!"

Keiichi's screaming was now dying out as the light had finally reached the disk, and began to absorb into it. When the last light faded into it; Hel who was standing away from it, stretched her hand out to the disk. The disk ripped off Keiichi's chest and flew through the air and landed in Hel's hand; but a small light still remained. The light hovered for a moment and then shot up Keiichi throat and as it escaped out of his mouth as it did a word also escaped.

"Belldandy-"

Keiichi head dropped to his chest, and his whole body turned from a healthy glow to a pale white. His lips were now blue, and his eyes were now grey and emulated no warmth from now his cold rigid body. Hel smiled at his limp body; Loki who had his back turned during the whole event now turned and looked at Keiichi.

The tea room finally settled, the last of the flying objects crashed to the floor, many were broken. Belldandy sat in the middle of it all; she looked pale and cold, like she just came out of a trance. Her breathing was irregular and her body was rigid; her hands were still placed over her heart. As she sat there; the kitchen door opened and Skuld, Urd, Peorth and Megumi looked at her. All four of them looked at her for a moment and then Urd opened the door a little further and stepped out.

Urd slowly walked over to the center of the room, with Peorth about two steps behind her; she had to navigate around the broken tea cups and broken glass that had scattered around the tea room. She walked over to the statue that was her sister, and before she could touch her; Belldandy mark on her forehead flashed. Skuld and Megumi ducked back behind the door; as Urd and Peorth took a step back as the mark flashed again.

Belldandy tilted her head upward and as cold tears streamed down the side of her face a red pillar of light rose from the mark. It rammed through the roof and flew upward through the sky and into the vastness of space. Belldandy rose and hovered in mid-air as the column of light continued to pour from her body. Belldandy's eyes were opened tears continued to stream as the pillar finally faded and she rested on the knees again, and instead of staying on them the collapsed on the floor and wept bitterly.

The alarms finally stopped blaring as Njord watched the surge on the screen fade out; he made the order to commence with the continuation of the scan. As the scan continued, Ex suddenly cried form below, "My Lord we are getting a transfer from Earth…It's Belldandy!"

"What does it say?" Njord asked concerned; Ex hesitated and then read the message.

"Mission complete!" Ex said sounding shock by the message. Njord was also shocked but before he could anything Ere suddenly called form below as well.

"My Lord we are getting a message from an unidentified source of space: "the captives shall be set free!' " Ere read out loud.

Njord stood there silently ciphering the messages he just received, suddenly it hit him. With out saying anything we walked over to Freyja's station and pushed a few buttons and then a small button rose from the platform. Njord hit it and the alarms blared through out the Control room and Heaven.

Urd looked at Belldandy who was still crying very bitterly on the floor, her tears were soaking into the wood. Urd reached down and touched her on the shoulder and whispered, "Belldandy what is-" Before she could finished, Belldandy rose up and looked at her sister and said, "He's gone!" The words echoed across the wrecked tea room, all who heard it remained frozen in their footsteps.

"He's gone?" Megumi whispered, the tears swelling in her eyes as she stared at Belldandy in disbelief at what she said.

"I just felt him die, I felt his spirit past through me." Belldandy said slowly, tears continuingly running down her cheek.

As everyone absorbed the statement that came from Belldandy; the sounds of Banpei-kun suddenly coming to alive turned their attention outside. Banpei-kun opened the door and silently looked in, with him was Sigel both looked in and saw the atmosphere and then Banpei-kun removed his hat as Sigel lowered her head. Banpei-kun pulled out his marker, and drew tears on his face and nodded towards Megumi and Belldandy.

"What is that?" Skuld said, something catching her eye.

Suddenly all the Goddesses, Megumi and Banpei-kun and Sigel turned their heads and looked at the object that caught Skuld's eye. It was a small blue flame that flickered in mid-air near the wall and the bushes that ran near the wall, and it was growing. The flame grew to half a meter tall in less than a minute and then it was almost one and half within another.

The flame had no smoke that bellowed from it, but it had no visible fuel that would supply it. The flame just grew and grew until it finally reached over three meters tall, and then the flame turned form blue to a orange-greenish color and then swirled in mid air, as the flame grew faster and faster and began to take a shape. The flame swirled around for about three minutes as it molded into a shape, and finally in a burst of light the flame evaporated and the shape appeared. The shape was human-like and the human floated in mid-air, and it only took everyone less than a second to realize it was Keiichi. Keiichi hovered for a moment and then like the strings beg cut on a puppet, his lifeless body was dropped to the ground.

"KEIICHI-SAN!" Belldandy screamed in shock and horror and she in two steps she was out of the tea room and off the porch and running to him. Megumi had also started to run with her, but Skuld and Urd both reached the door before her and blocked her path. Peorth looked and stopped Sigel and Banpei-kun from going off the porch; she tried to call out to Belldandy. Belldandy was already halfway across the yard as Peorth stepped off the porch; Belldandy ran as fast as she could. Belldandy was closing in on him, and as she was about to reached him; a wall of fire erupted in front of her, like a line being drawn in front of her, dividing her from Keiichi.

"BELLDANDY, GET BACK!" Peorth yelled across the yard

The Wall did not just go in front of her; it encircled Belldandy, cutting her off from the others. The wall danced around her but it did not consume her as she looked at the wall and as it began to withdraw back to its place of origin. The wall collapsed back into a single flame and much quicker did it form its shape, and when it reached it shape, a man stepped out like walking out of a curtain. The man walked out and stood right in front of Belldandy; she recognized him instantly and her and other Goddesses kneeled before him; Velsper spat and hissed at him.

"My Lord Loki!" Belldandy said as she bowed before him; Lord Loki had arrived at the temple.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Belldandy kneeled before Lord Loki as he stood in front of her; Urd, Megumi and Skuld form the porch also kneeled before him. Belldandy's eyes stayed fix on the ground, she held her hands on her knee and her head remained lowered as she said, "My Lord Loki!" as the words echoed from her mouth.

**SLAP!**

A searing flash of pain streaked across her cheek with such tremendous force that Belldandy was knocked to the ground. She felt the sting spread across her face as she held her hand against her cheek, and slowly looked up in disbelief at Loki. Loki looked down upon her in disgust; his left hand glowing red and white as it was placed against his right shoulder.

"You stupid girl!" Loki whispered to Belldandy, like a snake that hissed, his voice sounded purely venomous and cruel. "You stupid, foolish girl! How dare you even call yourself a Goddess, a demon is more fit to claim that title than you!"

Loki's words felt like the sting from a whip; Belldandy felt her whole body become cold as the words entered her heart. Loki lowered his hand that he had slapped her with, but his expression of loathe and disgust did not. Belldandy looked into Loki's eyes and could see the anger and hatred that stemmed from them. Loki took a step towards to her and then lowered himself to her almost reaching eye level to her.

"Did you honestly believe that you and he could actually stay together?" Loki asked in disgust. "You actually believed in the vain hope that somehow both of you could remain together."

"It was her wish, My Lord" Urd called from the porch.

"It may have been her wish, but it was not her place; you should remember that lesson well, Urd!" Loki hissed at Urd, who stared defiantly at Loki.

"I loved him!" Belldandy said as soon as Loki had faced her. Loki gnashed his teeth and as anger swelled over him he grabbed Belldandy by the neck and jerked her head towards Keiichi's life-less body.

"THEN EXPLAIN WHY HE IS DEAD!" Loki yelled in her ear, Belldandy could not resist, his grip was tightening around the back of her throat. "EXPLAIN WHY YOUR LOVE COSTED HIM HIS LIFE, AND WHY YOU DID NOT PREVENT THIS!"

Belldandy looked at Keiichi as he lay in his rigid and cold on the warm rocks that basked in the sun. Keiichi's eyes that once twinkled with joy were now cold and dark, his skin was a pale white to where his blood vessels were noticeable all over his arms and face. His face that was once brought joy and happiness became more and more difficult for Belldandy to see. She wanted to just touch him, and bring him back to life but she knew she would not be able to even touch him.

"Why did you do this, My Lord?" Belldandy asked so quietly that only Loki heard him. Loki released his grip on Belldandy and threw her back to the ground; Belldandy landed in the dirt and rose her head up and saw Loki feet directly in front of her. Belldandy looked up and saw Loki sitting in front of her; blocking her view of Keiichi.

"Me? No I did not do this, you did! You did this, child, and do you know how you did this." Loki whispered to her, his voice had changed to considerate and understanding. "You broke the law of segregation, and upset the balance that was set by that law. You put this world that you claim to love so much on the verge of total collapse to satisfy your own desires. You could have rejected the wish before you even sent it up to Yggdrasil to be processed, but you did not. You could have returned to heaven when the contract became void after the Lord of Terror, but you stayed. You could have said 'that was too close for dear Keiichi', after Hild unleashed the Angel Eater, but instead you stayed. Even when Narfi and Vali appeared in the woods and during your test on your pathetic toys, you still could have came home, but you stayed." Loki said sounding cruelly sweet as he talked to Belldandy. The four Goddesses looked at Loki as the words escaped from his lips.

"The entity was Narfi and Vali," Skuld cried to him in anger and shock, "do you realize they almost killed someone we cared about because you sent them?" Urd and Peorth shared her feelings; Velsper fur began to rise.

"Yet she is alive is she not? She was saved by Njord just in the nick of time and he finally got something he always wants, the glory!" Loki said smiling at Megumi and the others.

"At least Lord Njord was not willing to kill the innocent, to accomplish his goal for his own glory!" Peorth said to Loki.

"Just like you Peorth, you were willing to use a grudge against Belldandy to satisfy a wish, and why; because she showed you equality. So do not dare try and lecture me about the satisfying need of self-gratification." Loki responded to Peorth.

"Why are you doing this?" Belldandy asked.

"You are a Goddess, he is a human! You knew fully well that the law of Segregation was set up to allow the human race to expound themselves rather then lie solely depended on us. You and the human violated that law and you are guilty for not only that but you also exposed him and others to a world they had no right to be exposed to, and for that you risked not only this world's stability but your own!" Loki said angrily at Belldandy.

"Who are you to past that judgment on her?" Urd asked angrily

"Urd, you should know that all who posses the Elements carry with them the choice to be govern by those who the Elements have called to speak for them." Loki said annoyed by Urd question.

"Since when is giving your heart to someone you love consider overstepping boundaries!" Megumi said in a demanding voice.

"Human, if you truly understood the laws and the balances of the universe you would not ask that question. Since in your feeble mind you have a fragile sense of perception I would take well the only understanding you have and keep you mouth shut!" Loki yelled at Megumi.

"She has done nothing wrong, you know that!" Skuld said, her eyes blazing in anger.

"Belldandy do you love the human?" Loki said turning back to Belldandy, and circling her like a vulture.

"Yes I do!" Belldandy said weakly

"Belldandy did you at anytime tell him that you wanted to stay with him!" Loki asked, still circling around her.

"Yes I did!" Belldandy said still weakly and softly.

"So you admit that you were willing to reject your office and duty to the Goddesses?" Loki asked finally stopping in front of her. "You were willing to reject even your immortality, powers, rank, even your own life for the sake of staying with a human that you knew you never could?"

Belldandy looked back at Loki, and he once again looked at her with the fiery eyes he had arrived with. Belldandy tried to sneak a peek at Keiichi's life-less body, but was blocked by Loki. Belldandy looked in to his hate-filled eyes and the closing her eyes pronounced.

"I never once told Keiichi that I did not love him, or have any desire to leave him, and if I am guilty of that, then I will accept that punishment." Belldandy looked at Loki and said, "I love him, and if I can still save him from death, I would rather die and let him live!"

Loki looked back at her for a moment and then sighed as he silently rose up and walked past her. Loki looked at the women who stood on the porch; all had the same defiant expression on their faces. Loki looked into each of their hearts and their eyes and he could see that Belldandy's announcement is what gave them the courage.

"Urd!" Loki said in his commanding voice, Urd jumped a little in surprise but she was able to recover. "What is the first law in my order that you have failed to even try and keep?"

"Obedience is life, and Obedience equals power!" Urd said in her defiant tone; Loki looked at Urd and then pointed at Belldandy.

"Eliminate her!"

Megumi, and Skuld gasped for air, but Urd and Peorth stood in silence as Loki pronounced the sentence on Belldandy. "On what charge?" Skuld cried out. Loki turned silently towards the three that stood on the porch shocked by Loki's command to Urd.

"Insubordination and treason, you heard her and justice must prevail." Loki said; Megumi, Skuld, and Urd all looked at Loki as he kept his finger pointed at Belldandy. Loki looked at Urd and her eyes showed the defiance that bellowed inside her.

"Do it!" Loki announced again to Urd.

"Urd don't!" Peorth said defiance coursed from her voice

"**SILENCE**!" Loki screamed at Peorth, who lowered her head, "Urd, do it!"

Urd looked at Skuld and then Megumi and clasped her hands together and lighting fizzed around her hands. Skuld tried to stop her, but Megumi suddenly grabbed her and held her tightly; Skuld looked at Megumi and saw her eyes had turned gray and dull. Urd opened her hands and called together lighting to her and an orb of energy grew on the palm of her hand. When the orb as the size of a soccer ball Urd turned to Belldandy and looked into her sister's eyes.

"Forgive me, Belldandy!" Urd whispered to her sister.

"I will be with Keiichi-san Urd! There is no reason for me to forgive you." Belldandy said to her sister, and then Belldandy saw a flicker of light in Urd eyes.

"I meant for this!" Urd said, and threw the orb not at Belldandy, but Loki. Belldandy and Skuld watched as the orb streaked across the grounds and in less than a second was on Loki. Loki simply raised a finger and orb stopped directly in his face and barely grazed the hairs on his beard.

"Somehow I am not surprised that you would try and pull this stunt, Urd!" Loki announced at Urd, as the orb disintegrated and only lighting bolt remained and flickered about Loki's hand. Loki looked back at Urd and then gnashing his teeth, he unleashed a stream of lighting bolts towards Urd.

"NEE-SAN!" Belldandy screamed as she and Skuld watched in horror as the bolts struck Urd. The electric shock was so strong that Urd froze and became rigid as she shook on the porch. Her eyes had turned white and dead, she was deaf to Skuld's screams to her: Belldandy was also frozen in horror. Loki sent the bolts through her for almost one full minute and then like pulling a leash he yank the bolts away form Urd; in the processes of doing this Urd was thrown forward off the porch and landed face first on the ground and did not get up.

"ROCKET PUNCH!" Sigel screamed out and fired one of her hands across the yard at Loki. Loki caught the hand with ease and then wrapped his arm around the cord; and then yanked it towards him. Sigel flew across the yard and towards Loki; who extended his hand towards her. Sigel hit his hand dead-on in her face, when she impacted a metallic crunch so loud it sent shivers down everyone spines who heard it. Sigel's face was smashed in and her mechanic components were exposed and as she fell to the Earth, her circuits began to spark.

"SIGEL!" Skuld screamed so loud her voice was heard across the grounds. At this point, all hell broke loose, Banpei-kun saw what happened and then drew an angry face on his face and his ear extended and a loud, 'BWEET' sounded through out the grounds. An endless sea of Mini-Banpei-kun emerged out of the bushes and charged at Loki.

"Hmph!" Loki simply said as he formed another orb of lighting that grew to the size of a softball. Before Banpei-kun and his army of mini's reached Loki; Loki threw the ball at ground and the lighting danced across the ground. A massive bolt hit Banpei-kun himself as smaller bolts hit the minis. The carnage that followed, no one could have possibly prepared for it. Several Minis simply fell and did not rise again, but some were hit by the bolts with such intensity that they exploded. Parts of them were scattered all over the grounds; Banpei-kun took the worst, the bolt that hit him stopped him dead in his tracks. His internal circuits were fried, so bad that his electronic eyes and other parts of him exploded and the shards rained around him.

Peorth acting on complete rage extended her hands towards Loki and a wave of ground tried to literally shallow Loki. Loki blocked it and then using his powers he froze Peorth and threw her high into the air. Then with the full extent of his wrath, he slammed her into the ground with such force that no one was sure she would survive it.

"PEORTH!" Belldandy screamed as she hit the ground.

Velsper eyes glowed white and in a moment through his feline tongue he screamed in rage, "NEKO BEAM!!" A white light shot out of his mark above his eyes; it headed straight for Loki, Loki saw it coming and with a simple flick of his fingers, the beamed passed him. Loki raised his hand to Velsper and said, "Foolish Feline", and then; Loki flung him high into the air that he disappeared from view.

"VELSPER!!" Skuld screamed as Belldandy could not say anything from the shock form all that happened.

Loki immediately turned his wrath back to Belldandy; he slapped her again with more ferocity than when he first struck her. Belldandy fell again to the ground, but she recovered faster, but not fast enough to stop Loki from his next assault.

"WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO BELLDANDY? WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO MAKE YOU SEE YOUR FOLLY? DO I HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVED BEFORE YOU SEE IT?" Loki screamed into her ear, and then pushed her back to the ground.

Belldandy stayed on the ground and cried; her tears soaked the ground and formed mud under her. Loki continued to circle around her like a vulture and watched as she wept. Belldandy just wanted this to end, her heart was now shattered as she looked around the grounds and saw Urd lying motionless in front of the porch; Keiichi laid dead only a few feet away from her, but Loki stood between her and him.

"What else can you do?" said the broken voice of Skuld. Skuld was still being held the possessed Megumi. Skuld tears were streaming down her face, but they were not just tears of sadness, but tears of hatred for Loki. Her teeth gnashed at him and her small powers inside herself began to show themselves.

"What else can you do to us? You've taken everything from us except our home and our lives! The only thing you can do to us now is to kill us, so get on with it and destroy us!" Skuld said her tears and crying breaking her speech.

"I do not want to destroy you Skuld; I only wanted your sister to realize her folly and to accept the consequences. You wanted her to come home with you, is that not true; I'm doing you a favor only I am not asking; I am demanding it. All this can end if Belldandy admits her guilt and returns home at once, but we already know what she is going to do?" Loki said to Skuld turning back towards Belldandy.

"The only law that I have broken was my inability to fulfill all of Keiichi-san desires, for that crime I am guilty. For the other laws that you are condemning me for breaking, I only broke them because I loved him and it was my wish!" Belldandy said to Loki looking directly into his eyes.

Loki turned to Belldandy, his back was turned to Skuld and Megumi and the house. Loki looked at Belldandy as her words filled his ears, and then he stood before her and then raised his fist to his face.

"With your own admissions, you leave me no choice Belldandy!" Loki said as lighting flickered inside his hand and bolts escaped from between his fingers. "With a small favor only that yourself will benefit from, you will be reunited with your beloved Keiichi-san!" The lighting around Loki's fingers continued to flicker brighter and more sudden.

Loki turned his hand towards Belldandy and then opened his fist; Skuld's screams were faded out as the sound of thunder screaming across the sky filled Belldandy's ears. The light from the bolt was blinding to Belldandy and the light soon consumed her vision. As she felt the heat of the bolt; she suddenly felt a cool wind on the back of her neck and then all became clear again. Belldandy saw Loki standing in front of her looking at her in a state of confusion, a small column or smoke rose form the ground less than a foot away from her.

Belldandy felt another wind blow past her, but this one was much stronger, and this one she could see. It was a patch of wind in a cone-shaped orb that whished over her head and struck Loki directly in the chest. Loki was thrown in to the air away from Belldandy; he was thrown over Skuld and Megumi; and over the house. Loki finally landed in the forest behind the house, the sight and sound of trees snapping and falling announced his landing.

Belldandy watched Loki as he disappeared and she was greatly confused as she saw Skuld's eyes widen. Belldandy hear a rushing sound and then felt the Earth shake underneath her. Belldandy turned around and gasped at who she saw; it was Njord. Njord looked at the grounds and seeing Megumi and Skuld at the porch, he raised his hand to release Megumi form her possession. As Skuld and Megumi ran towards Njord and Belldandy; Njord made a sweeping motion with his hands. In an instant, Urd and Peorth along with Sigel and Banpei-kun rose in the air flew across the yard and landed next to Keiichi. He then moved towards Belldandy and extending a hand, he lifted her off the ground and then said, "Sorry I'm late."

Njord slipped a ring on his left middle finger and then using that hand he cupped it around Belldandy's right ear. His voice changed to the sound of a synthesized binary language as a light formed underneath him and Belldandy. Njord's language echoed all over the temple grounds as the light shown around then and the wind howled around them. After only a few seconds Njord's language and voice changed back to what it originally was and then the only word that rang over the grounds was, "RESURRECT!"

The Light brightened and then faded and revealed Belldandy and Njord both in different attire. Belldandy's mark on her forehead was different; it now had two blue triangles with a dot between the triangles. Her raiment was different from the Goddess attire she usually wore, her hands were covered with gloves, but her dress was made of heavier cloth. She held in her hand a golden rod in her hand and at the top was a small blue ball the size of a marble.

Njord robes were different as well, instead of the long sleeves it was short sleeved and his arms were bare. The rest on the robes reached down to his mid calf area and the rest of his legs were covered with metal guards. His footwear were replaced by boots with metal plates on his the top of his toes; beneath his robes on his upper torso was a coat of mail. The mark on his forehead was more brilliant, but the marks that were on the back of his hands were more noticeable. Each mark was blue and had runes spread from the mark to the tip of his fingers, up the arm, on the side of his neck, past the front of his ear, ending at his hairline.

Njord stood in front of Belldandy and then reaching into his cloak he pulled out Velsper and then handing him to her he said, "Belldandy, protect the innocent!" Belldandy simply nodded at the command she was given. Njord then turned to the two others that stood in front of him and touching Skuld on the shoulder as well he said, "Skuld, protect your sister and friends!" As she nodded Njord moved over towards Megumi and said, "Megumi, protect your brother!"

Njord walked past them and walked only a few steps towards the house and waited; Megumi was puzzled at the command that Njord had given her. Megumi looked at her brothers' life-less body and back at Njord who still was looking at the house and said, "He's dead!"

"He's not dead!" Njord announced across the temple grounds, "His spirit is not in the underworld!" Njord's word pierced everyone's heart, everyone looked at Keiichi's body and then back at Njord who still was not turning around to look at them.

"Then where-?" Skuld started, but as the words began to spill out; a sudden rush of wind came over them, followed by a large, hazy yellow-orange glow from behind the house appeared. The roar got louder and louder and then the house exploded as a raging inferno swept through the house and towards the others. Njord crossed his arms and the flames died before they even reached him.

The house was smoldering in the wake of the inferno that had swept over the house, the only things left of the house was the supports. The black charred remains of the house were like a black skeleton that sat in a haze of smoke. The forest behind the house did not favor too well either; the charred trunks poked into the sky like black spikes. The smoke created a dense haze that settled on the once lush and beautiful temple.

Suddenly, like a veiled curtain rising on a stage, the smoke disappeared and a man was seen standing on top of the charred remains of the house. Loki stood with his fist clenched at either side, his teeth gnashing at Njord and the others. His eyes were brilliantly yellow like the flames he had just unleashed on them all; his fists also had flames dancing around them as well.

"He has him!" Njord announce to a shocked Belldandy, Skuld and Megumi.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Loki stood in the mist of the charred and smoldering remains of the house, the blacken frame was like a skeleton of a destroyed life. His demeanor was still that of hatred and anger that flowed from his clinched fist and fiery eyes. The focus of his anger had shifted from Belldandy to Njord and Loki made sure to make Njord know about his anger towards him. Loki stared directly Njord's eyes with cruelty and hatred in an attempt to get him to back down with simple intimidation, but Njord would not back down.

Njord's demeanor was opposite than that of Loki, Njord was angry but he was more controlling of that anger than Loki. He was calm and assertive as he stared back into Loki hate-filled eyes and he was unaffected at the sight of the open flames that danced on his hands. Njord stared defiantly at Loki as his fallen hands rose again and Njord folded them again across his chest. Njord's sense of alertness was high as he watched Loki take a few steps past a few charred support beams. The silence lasted a few minutes as these two elements only stared and watched each others movements.

"Congratulations Loki!" Njord said; sounding amused in his serious tone. "In a matter of two months you've gone from committing pranks, to thievery, a count of murder and three attempted, and the most recent: treason!"

"Do not equate yourself with me Njord! That hot bag of air in your head you call your intelligence is not equal to mine so do not assume that you understand my reasoning!" Loki hissed back at Njord.

"Whether my intelligence is equal to yours is not the issue here Loki! The single issue here is who gave you authority to pass judgment on those who stand behind me!" Njord retorted back, his calm tone unaffected.

"My authority is the same as yours Njord; but since you seem to have forgotten the laws that we-" Loki started to express, but Njord cut him off.

"If you think I have forgotten the laws you speak of then I would say my intelligence is more than equal to yours. If anyone has forgotten the laws you speak of it is you, for you seem to forget in the beginning we were the authors of those laws." Njord said sounding very stern as his patience was beginning to thin.

"Writing them is one thing, enforcing them is another! So I suggest that if you want to brand someone with a charge of treason, brand it on someone who deserves it, and the only person who does deserve it is STANDING BEHIND YOU!" Loki screamed at Njord looking at Belldandy.

Belldandy looked at Loki's fiery eyes that only a few minutes ago tried to end her life. Belldandy stood looking this time with no fear as she started into his eyes; she looked and noticed that Skuld and Megumi looked at Loki with the same defiance that Belldandy had.

"You say she has committed treason for breaking the Law of Segregation but why should she accept your punishment so you can escape the judgment?" Njord asked looking at Loki.

"Why would I try to escape the judgment when I have done nothing wrong?" Loki said trying to sound innocent.

"You organized the break in on the Hermods Program, you ordered your daughter Hel to kill the human, and you have tried to kill Belldandy, Urd and Peorth! You took the judgment into your hands and attempted to carry out the punishment-sounds like treasons to me!" Njord said very fast and very serious.

"Njord if you knew why I was truly here you would not hinder me but since your understanding is limited as the humans I will only tell you this once; stand aside and let justice prevail!" Loki yelled and in then blinked as a fireball escaped from his fist and flew over Njord and headed for Belldandy.

Njord's eyes didn't even have to blink as he responded to Loki's stubbornness as the fireball sailed through the air. A column of water rose out of the pond like a snake and dove in front of Belldandy and the others. The column swept in front of Belldandy's stretched hands; and the front part opened like a mouth and consumed the fireball. When it swallowed the fireball the column of water exploded and water fell all around Belldandy and the others, but not one drop landed on anybody as the last of the column retreated back to the pond.

"I AM NOT A SIMPLETION LOKI!" Njord shouted at Loki, "I am equal to you in every aspect so do not set yourself on higher authority than me or the rest of us! I know fully well why you are here and so does he!" Njord announced; the last of his words echoed through out the grounds; as they did Loki felt a twinge of fear in his heart. "He knows what you have done Loki and he has sent me to you with a message, 'Deliver the soul of the human to Njord and return to heaven at once!' So now you have a choice, we can do this his way or your way, but if you want to do this your way-you-will-get-burned!"

Loki looked at Njord for a moment, trying to read his expression as if trying to see if Njord was bluffing. Njord's expression would not yield any sign nor tell him if he was bluffing or not, but Loki just stood there. Loki's fear was absorbed with anger and hate as he looked at Njord again; he knew that Njord would not let him past. With out even blinking this time he gave his answer, he spit out fireball at Njord so fast that Njord and the others could not respond in time.

The fireball consumed Njord as the sound of the fire was equal to that of the roar of jet engine. The heat was so intense that Megumi felt like her clothes had caught on fire and it felt like her skin was on fire as well. The fire ball swirled around Njord for about few seconds and then the flames died and Njord reappeared unscathed. His clothes did not smell like smoke, neither did any hair on his head look singed, but his arms glowed blue again.

"As always Loki you gotta do things the hard way!" Njord said as dark storm clouds rolled out like scrolls through the afternoon sky. The clouds obscured the sun and soon the day had turned to night, the street lamps worked but then they flickered at the wind began to whistle and lowly howl through the trees. Soon all the light went out and the only one remaining was the light form a symbol that illuminated underneath Njord. Njord crossed his arms and then he rose and hovered a few feet off the ground he extended his arms outward as his voice echoed through the grounds.

**Winds from the East! Winds from the West! Hearken to your master's call!**

**Unto me I command thee to dance and to spin to unleash your deadly winds,**

**Unleash the winds that howl, the howl that's steals away men's courage,**

**Unleash the roar of the monster, the roar that causes men to flee in bands.**

**Unto your master an enemy has been made, and make him your enemy,**

**Unleash your monster and with your howl drive him away and his band.**

**Come forth monster of the wind, let all who bear witness bear it in fear,**

**Winds arise and upon this lust Eden, reduce it to an utter wasteland!**

With that said, Njord reached his hands in separate directions, his left hand moved towards the ground and the right reached towards the sky. A large column of dust and dirt rose from the ground and shrouded Njord and rose into the heavens. Megumi and Skuld looked up into the sky as Belldandy raised her blue shield over them and was shocked at what she saw. The sky above her spun in front of her eyes and they spun like fingers dancing above her and then all the fingers combined and attached to the column of dirt and dust that rose around Njord, forming a tornado.

The tornado was small at first as it twisted in the grounds around Njord, but as it grew in size it began to shows it true power. The ornaments in the temple began to rise into the air, as the trees began to sway more and more violently. The tornado also consumed the remains of the house and the charred forest that was behind Loki. As the tornado continued to grow bigger, out of the funnel emerged Njord's arm that glowed blue and it extended towards the temple.

The temple had done very well it had withstood the fireball from Loki, and even with the tornado Njord had formed only lost a few loose tiles form the roof. As Njord extended his open hand towards the temple; the whole temple suddenly shuttered and remained still. Njord hand held open for a second and then it clasped shut, and in a deafening pop; the temple exploded and rose into the air towards the funnel. The pile of rubble rose in air and began to circle around the funnel like a swarm of angry bees.

The tornado continued to grow as more and more rubble continued to be feed into the monster that Njord had created. Megumi heard another deafening crack behind her and turned around it time to see the wooden entrance on the wall rip off and sail into the tornado. More and more debris continued to sail through the air; telephone and power lines with wires still attached to them flung like whips. Guard rails and other road signs sailed through like paper caught in a summer breeze and rose up in the air like balloons. More crunching noise arrived with debris not able to clear over the wall, many hitting so hard that cracks started to form. Even cars and other motorized vehicles sailed through the air and were feed into the fury of the tornado.

Megumi watched in amazed horror from the shelter of the shield that Belldandy had formed around Skuld, Megumi and the others. The debris flowed around the tornado with such precision and balance it only made Megumi more and more amazed. A few times would some of the debris hit the shield itself, and ripples were seen to flow through the shield, but it still held. Megumi also observed a strange orange glow that had formed on the opposite side of the tornado and Megumi also observed that some things disappeared from the tornado. Megumi watched as an SUV was hurled around the tornado about three times and then was dropped near ground level. The SUV went around one more time and then was thrown at the orange glow and with a horrible scrapping sound the SUV never returned to the sky.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?" Megumi yelled to Skuld, but her yell sounded like a faint whisper compared to the roaring sound of the tornado. Skuld just shrugged her shoulders and then tapped Belldandy on the shoulder and asked the same question to her.

"I THINK HE IS TRYING TO DRAIN LORD LOKI OF HIS POWERS!" Belldandy yelled back, her voice was clear as if she had been talking in her normal volume. She could not answer any more questions because more and more debris began to hit the shield and more ripples were forming. Belldandy would raise her hands and the shield would simply be fixed and strengthen enough to withstand more blows.

After a few more minutes of the debris flying around, Megumi suddenly noticed the orange glow disappear and then a ripple was seen inside the funnel and rose up through it. Before she could report this to Belldandy; Belldandy suddenly collapsed and would not get back up; Skuld was frantic and desperately trying to wake her up. Skuld and Megumi both looked at the unconscious Belldandy trying to wake her up, when a loud noise caused them both to duck. When they got up the noise from the tornado was louder and the feeling of wind drew their attention to the shield. When they looked at it, their hearts turned cold; a hole had been formed in the shield and it was growing!

Megumi and Skuld continued to remain as low as they could and Megumi tried over and over in vain trying to wake Belldandy up. Skuld looked at Megumi's attempts and pulled her away and yelled at her, "She used up too much of her power!"

"What do we do now?" Megumi screamed back, both of them had to yell in each others ear to even communicate, but it still sounded like a faint whisper. Before Skuld could response her eyes grew wider and she grabbed Megumi and threw her down on the ground and covered her as another loud crack was heard. Megumi turned to watch a refrigerator hit the shield, further gapping the hole and then float right back into the air.

"SKULD!" a voice yelled from above, it was Njord and his voice echoed clean and clear over the tornado's roar. "YOU MUST REBUILD THE SHIELD, CALL FORTH YOUR ANGEL!"

Skuld did as she was instructed, she hunched down and then clasping her hands together she called forth Noble Scarlet. Skuld and Noble Scarlet both stretched forth their hands and began trying to fix the hole in the shield. At first they made significant progress repair some of the shield, but as more and more debris hit the shield it destroyed the fixed portion and they had to start all over again. This cycle would repeat over the next ten seconds, the hole was not getting fixed; at one point a car hitting the shield almost completely destroyed it.

"SKULD!" Njord called down again and then said, "YOU MUST HURRY!"

"I'M TRYING!" Skuld cried back up, her voice still a whisper.

"YOU'VE GOT TO TRY HARDER!" Njord screamed back down, "HURRY!"

Megumi looked up and saw why he was saying she needed to hurry with the rebuild, both Megumi and Skuld; along with Noble Scarlet looked up. Past the tornado and into the dark swirling storm clouds a bright light was beginning to pierce through. The light looked as bright as the sun as it grew brighter and brighter, and the storm clouds began to move aside. Skuld and Noble Scarlet went straight back to work and were able to rebuild the shield much faster than before, but it still was not finished.

Suddenly as the shield was about halfway fixed; the light busted through the lowest clouds. The light soaked the grounds and turned everything from dark into light that was just as blinding as the darkness had done. Everything around Megumi, including the tornado began to fade out from Megumi's sight as the light grew brighter and brighter. The last thing Megumi saw before the light had blinded her was Skuld and Noble Scarlet with their hands stretched forth trying to fix the shield.

"SKUL-L-D-D-D!!" was the last thing Megumi heard before the ground was lowered from under her feet and she was thrown into the air. Suddenly something unseen hit Megumi while she as in the air and turned her world topsy-turvy as she felt herself flip in the air and then in one breathe all the air was sucked out of her lungs. The last thing Megumi felt was her landing on the hard rocky ground and hitting her head on something hard and she remember no more.

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.

This chapter I wish to dedicate to-you the reader. You took the time out of your busy schedule to read my story and for that you have my heartfelt thanks. So this chapter I dedicate to you.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry everyone it took me so long to update. I have so busy that my life needs to rewind a little to catch up. So here it is., the conclusion of Ah! The Elements that are Among us. Enjoy! And thanks for reading.

**Chapter 11**

Megumi slowly stirred as her world slowly came out of darkness and colors began to appear before her. Her skin hurt as she had a compressed feeling of sharp small rocks pressed into her face, arms and hands. She slowly gripped her fingers around a few rocks trying to give herself a hold to raise her body off the ground. She got the grip and after one failed attempt to lift herself up, the second time she rose to her knees, resting on her rear calves. Her world was still blurry as she sat up, she felt something trickling down the side of her forehead and she put her hand over the trickle and took a swipe. Megumi pulled her hand towards her eyes and all she saw was her hand and the blood that was covering it.

Her eyes had trouble readjusting, but even when they had finally focused she still had low visibility. A brown haze had settled on the temple grounds making Megumi's attempts to locate exactly were she was more difficult. After a minute of scanning through the haze she finally saw something that gave her a location marker: a broken section of the outer wall. The wall had received a beating; large cracks were seen through the brown fog, and other things included debris both large and small that lay near the wall. Also a few sections of the wall had small and large holes through the thickness of the wall, and many pieces of the wall were scattered through out the grounds.

Megumi and slowly got up on her feet and turned around, her visibility furthered declined as she looked towards where the house once stood. Megumi looked at the thickness of the haze and with a breathe she smelt dust, dirt and smoke in the stuffy air. She slowly took one step forward and slowly moved her self through the haze, the haze was getting thicker and she began to taste it in her mouth. Megumi finally only had visibility in less than three feet; she had to drag her feet on the ground to make sure she did not step on anything. She heard the scrapping of rocks most of the time, but occasionally it was mixed with the sound of wood and paper.

As she walked through the brown haze and her visibility dropped to only a foot, she had to rely more and more on her dragging feet for navigation. As she walked and her feet dragged, she hit something in the darkness and unable to regain her balance; Megumi fell back to the ground, but this time she did not lost consciousness. Megumi lifted herself back up to her knees and felt what she landed on, it was warm and soft. Megumi scooted back over and found Skuld lying face-first on the ground completely knocked out and unresponsive. Megumi tried to wake her up but all her efforts were in vain, as she did Megumi also found Belldandy lying close by. Both Belldandy and Skuld both looked pale as they lay in the brown haze, looking comatose.

Suddenly Megumi felt the wind on her face; pushed aside the stifling, dead air that had covered the grounds. As the wind blew it lifted the brown haze like a curtain revealing the true extent of the damage that was done to the temple grounds. Keiichi, Urd and Peorth lay only a few feet away from Belldandy and Skuld, both looking just as pale and dead as they had before. Megumi also saw Sigel and Banpei-kun also lying broken on the ground, but very few minis were left in the grounds. Megumi looked around and noticed that very few things were actually left standing that was above the measurement of four feet. Both the temple and the house were eradicated and their ruins was scattered all over the grounds. The forest that had once been green and lush, were now completely stripped of almost all vegetation.

At the site of where the house once stood was now a long crack in the ground and in the middle of it was a small crater that barely stretched over the old foundation. The crater looked deep enough, but Megumi was not about to go over and investigate the true depth. Megumi watched as small streams of dust and smoke vented from the crater and from around the crater as well. The damage to the outer walls was also devastating, large cracks were seen on the walls and even a few holes that were once hazy now were clear to see.

Megumi felt the wind continue to brush right past her and continue to push the last of the dust out of the grounds. The fresh breeze was refreshing through her hair and skin; it was also nice to get some clean air into her lungs. She observed was the winds did not feel like they came from the west or the east; but from above. Megumi looked up and what she saw made her fall backwards and filled her very being with fear. Megumi saw a large ball of light that doubled in size with every blink and it was heading directly for her.

The ball of light that was above Megumi screamed across the sky like a comet in space, its light glowing throughout the atmosphere. The ball got closer and closer with every blink and before she knew it the ball was only a few hundred feet above her. As the ball got closer it suddenly exploded into six smaller lights and continued to rush towards the temple. As it reached ground level four of the light blasted right into the crater and vanished, and the remaining two landed right in front of Megumi. When the last two landed the light faded and two women appeared before Megumi, both she did not know.

"Megumi, my name is Freyja; this is Lind, she is a Valkyrie!" Freyja said.

Freyja had a gentle face that matched her dark blue, keen looking eyes. Freyja had also long, light brown hair, but not as shimmering as blonde hair. She wore a brown robe over her body that looked more like a cloak then a robe, her attire looked more business that causal. Her boots were glimmering form the cleanliness and attention she obviously gave them.

Lind wore almost similar attire to Freyja; as her clothing completely covered her body. Her clothing was more militaric than the other Goddess attire she had seen; it was silver and white and had sections that draped down her back like wings. She had sliver gloves and shoes; she also had short sliver hair that came down to her neck except for one section that came down to her mid-torso. What really caught Megumi's attention was the massive ax that Lind was holding with her!

Megumi nodded to Lind silently to which Lind returned also silently and then walked past Megumi to check on Urd. Freyja walked in front of Megumi and touching her gash she healed it, and then went to check on Skuld as Lind went to check on Keiichi. Megumi watched as they worked on the others; as they did a rumbling noise erupted fro below the Earth. Megumi looked around for the source and as she did a ball of light shot out the crater and in a matter of seconds the ball had disappeared into the heavens.

"Good, they got Loki!" Lind said taking a moment to look at the ball and then went back to checking on Keiichi. As they continued to check on the others another rumble was heard from below the Earth, and then another ball of light emerged out of the crater. Unlike the last one this did not shoot directly upwards but more hovered over the ridge of the crater and then landed a few feet from the rim. When the light faded it revealed two more Valkyries and between them was a battered, bruised and semi-conscious Njord.

"My Lord, Belldandy and Skuld are drained of all powers and entered into their dormant state." Freyja stated.

"Urd and is also in the same state; Peorth is going to need some mending; but we do have one fatality, it is the human Morisato Keiichi!" Lind announced her statement cause Megumi's heart to turn cold.

"He-he's not dead!" Njord said weakly, he was standing on his own and slowly regaining his balance; he turned to the two Valkyries and to the one on his left, "Kelah, go to the Holding room and find Loki; around his neck you will find a gold plate bring it to me." He turned to the other one, "Joule, go to the Council room and inform the Almighty that I am assessing the damage down here and beginning clean up procedures, bring me word if he request my presence."

Both Valkyries bowed before Njord and in a second light had formed around and they both rose into the air and in a blink they were gone. Njord stood up and finally regained his balance in full and then proceed to assist Lind and Freyja. The three of them moved everyone under a patch of shade near what was left in a corner of the outer wall. Megumi sat next to her pale dead brother, his lips were now blue and his face was whiter than anything Megumi had seen before. Freyja was standing with Njord and both were talking as Lind was knelt next to Urd and was bounding up a wound that was on her arm.

After a few minutes Kelah returned in the same fashion as she first had arrived, in a ball of light and landed in front of Njord. She walked up to him and pulled out a small gold plate and Njord nodded to her and then he looked at it for a moment and then sighed. As he started to walk back over to the other that lay in the corner; the sky turned black once again. The clouds that covered the sun were much darker than the one Njord had formed.

With the arrival of the storm came a fresh wave of wind that bellowed across the temple grounds, and they were a little stronger than the winds Njord had made earlier. The darkness from the storm clouds were overpowered by the lighting that flashed through the sky with such frequency and intensity that it almost became day again. As the storm continued to brew overhead, Megumi level of fear once again raised and she cowered against the wall. Freyja stood close to her and looked up into the sky with her, but she was not fearful; but alert. Lind and Kelah stood in front of the others that lay on the ground also looking into the sky, with an expression of alert and determination. Njord stood out in the open and stared into the storm and then shook his head.

"I don't need this!" He said sounding frustrated.

"What is going on?" Megumi cried out in fear as she watched the lighting flash across the sky.

"It's Hild!" Njord simply stated; Kelah pulled out her giant ax and took a step forward and raised it up to the sky. "STAND DOWN! She's not here to fight; she only wants to talk!" Kelah lowered her ax and retook her position with Lind and guarded the others that lay on the ground.

Njord and the other Goddess that were with him watched the storm with the same expression, but soon the storm took a turn. The lighting that danced across the sky was now starting to strike the area through out the temple grounds. The lighting was striking the stone blocks that had survived the tornado and in only one strike were they reduced to dust. Megumi watched in horror and amazement at the power and precision of each lighting strike and the damage that they caused. While the lighting struck; another cloud descended from the storm and landed away from Njord and the others. The wind from this tornado was equal to Njord wind and it hovered with the winds bellowing around it; the tornado just sat there.

"Whenever you're ready!" Njord said, but nothing changed for a moment and then he shouted, "WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

This time the tornado faded away from Megumi's sight and two women emerged from the tornado, it was Hild and Mara. Hild looked like an older version of Urd and was manifested in the fact that they shared many of the same characteristics. Hild hair was long and sliver that had ornaments that were found all throughout it, with the ornaments that were seals of her true power. Her clothing was a tight dressed that had a very deep and narrow v-cut that went down to her mid-rift area. She had a childish look on her face with a smile that was not shared by her cold eyes that gazed over the temple grounds.

Mara was also like Hild, but she just looked evil to begin with, but she looked nothing like Hild. Her shaggy blond hair was all over the place, and only her face was bare, the rest of her body was covered. Both Hild and Mara looked at Njord and the rest who had stood with him, Hild looked at the group that was under the tree. She paid special attention to Megumi who sat next to her brother; Megumi looked at Hild and felt her heart freeze when she looked back.

"Was it really necessary for you to show off?" Njord said, breaking Hild gaze from Megumi. By the tone of his voice he sounded more annoyed then impressed with the demonstration.

"Well, with the scraps that you and Loki left for us to gnaw on; would you have preferred that we moved out into the city?" Hild said sounding viciously sweet as her childish tone; her voice froze Megumi's heart still. Njord stood before her but did not return a comment to her question, but forced himself a smile.

"I didn't think so!" Hild said to Njord and then looked back at Megumi, only to be blocked when Njord moved in front of her.

"What do you want, and why did you bring your little nymph with you?" Njord said his tone sounding threatening as he looked at Hild and Mara.

"We heard some commotion and we wanted to see what was happening. We arrived just in time to watch you lasso Loki in mid-air and then slammed him into the ground. I imagine that hurt." Hild said; Mara stood smiling at him as Njord gave a warning with his eyes to her.

"So Mara's here to enjoy the fireworks with you?" Njord said to Hild sounding skeptical to her explanation.

"Mara was assigned on this area and is one of the best demons in the realm of Nidhogg." Hild said turning and looking at her.

"That's the overstatement of the century." Njord said without skipping a beat, "Possible the millennium." Njord continued to stare at Hild and Mara, he looked at them and with the expression on his face he did not believe any words which they stated. Njord looked back at Hild and the said, "Now why don't you really tell me why you're here?"

Hild looked at Njord and then extending her hand a finger towards Urd who lay unconscious under the tree. "Now with out any commentary, tell me; what did he do to her?" Hild voice changed to a chilling tone and pointed to the unconscious Urd that lay next to Keiichi along the wall.

"He drained her of her powers and knocked her out, he is before the Council now; if you like I can send Kelah to get a report on the trial." Njord said still looking at Hild; his eyes not straying from her cold expression.

"You need me for something, don't you?" Hild asked suddenly in her childish sweet voice.

"Yes I do!" Njord announced, Freyja looked at Njord strangely as Lind and Kelah took a step back from Njord. "You know what help I need from you?"

"Of Course Njord, but you know that nothing from me is free!" Hild again stated in her childish voice.

"What is your price?" Njord said sounding annoyed; Hild took one step and stood directly in front of Njord. Hild lifted her finger and placed her finger over Njord's lips and leaning closely to Njord's ear.  
"You already know what I want!" Hild whispered; Njord closed his eyes and then sighed as he gave his answered.

"You shall have it, if you help me!" He said sounding sure of himself, but Hild just snickered

"You know Urd-chan won't say it, what makes you think you can make her!" Hild retorted sounding unconvinced at Njord's proposal.

"If she doesn't say it then I will accept the punishment!" Njord announced with a great shock to all that stood with him, even Hild was surprised by his statement. Freyja took a step forward but then stopped; even Lind and Kelah seem too shocked at the recklessness of Njord's proposal to Hild. Hild looked at Njord with surprise at his tánaistí and his willingness and with a smile that was both sincere and evil, Hild extended her hand to Njord; and Njord took it; sealing the agreement.

Njord and Hild turned towards Keiichi and started to walk over to him, both walked briskly. Njord reached into his pockets and pulled out the small gold plate that had been nestled in his pocket. As they approached the shade in the wall; Megumi stood up and then stood in their path to her brother. Hild looked at Megumi for a moment; but Njord walked past her and walked directly to Megumi; who looked at Njord and in a very determined tone said, "What are you going to do to Kei-chan?"

Njord held out the gold plate for Megumi to see; but he would not let her touch it, and then said to her, "Megumi this is a soul catcher! Only one deity in the whole universe is allowed to use this device."

"Unfortunately for your brother; that deity happened to be Loki's daughter and her name is Hel!" Freyja said

"Your brother's soul was ripped out and is incarcerated in this device; with" Njord paused and looked at Hild and then said, "her help we are going to break it open and release your brothers' soul and put it back in!" Njord explained briefly.

Megumi wasn't sure what came over her, but she moved aside and allowed Njord and Hild to approach her brother. Inside her heart and mind she was screaming in protest, but the rest of her body told her to stand aside and she obeyed. Megumi watched as Hild reopened the tear in Keiichi's shirt and as Njord placed the soul catcher on his bare chest. Hild and Njord placed there hands over his chest and the soul catcher and began to chant that turned into a song.

The song echoed through out the grounds sounding low at first, but it gradually grew louder and louder as it connected to not only the wind, but to all the Earth. The chant was only furthered by Keiichi chest and body beginning to glow green and then blue, the soul catcher fading form sight and seemed to be absorbed into the light. Njord and Hild removed their hands from across his chest and crossed their arms against there owns and continued the chant. After a few minutes of the light and the song, Keiichi's body faded out of the light, and a healthy glow overtook his once pale and dead look, but he wasn't breathing.

Njord tilted his head back and opened his mouth as Lind and Kelah took a step forward and held his arms and legs down. Hild stood up and moved back away form his body and just watched as Njord took a deep breath. Njord cupped his hands around Keiichi's mouth and then holding this deep breath he leaned over Keiichi. Njord released the deep breath and the air traveled out of his mouth; past his cupped hands and went into Keiichi; his chest rose as a confirmation that the air had entered his lungs.

Keiichi eyes snapped open and he began to thrash around in an attempt to escape from the grasp of Kelah and Lind. His arms and legs were still pinned but that did not stop him from trying to escape or try to attack those near him. His breathing had returned, but now it was in hyperventilate; swallow breath as shock overtook him. After three seconds of this Njord reached his hand across his forehead and within a second Keiichi stopped thrashing and actually feel asleep.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Megumi screamed at Njord, as Lind and Kelah released their grips around Keiichi's arms and legs.

"We brought him back to life, but that was the shock the body took from it." Njord explained and then pointed to his chest and said, "Look!" Megumi looked at his chest and tears swelled in her eyes at what she had noticed; Keiichi's chest rose and lowered in perfect harmony and frequency. His mouth also opened and closed as he breathed, Megumi could even hear what sounded like a light snore as he breathed. As Megumi watched in joy that her brother was now revived; her whole body suddenly lost all strength and she did not feel her body hit the ground when she black out.

Megumi felt her sore body begin to stir after what felt like a few minutes, and she slowly woke up. Her eyes snapped opened and found herself in a semi-lighted room; a tiny amount light flickered in the vast darkness that encompassed her. Megumi felt strength in her arms that were on a fuzzy, warm blanket, a cold wooden floor as she slowly regained feeling to them. Megumi pushed herself up her elbows and looked at the sources of the lights in the room she was sleeping; it was candles that were halfway melted down.

Megumi looked around and she recognized her location; it was the temple itself, but instead of being destroyed it was rebuilt exactly the way Megumi remembered. Megumi looked at a crack in the open door that lead outside and saw the street lights on as the night had covered the region. Megumi looked around at the rebuilt temple and was amazed that everything seemed to be exactly the way it was, almost like she was in a dream. Megumi ran her hand over her wound and still felt the gash that Freyja had healed and Megumi knew it was not a dream.

As Megumi looked around she hear some movement behind her, and she turned around and saw something that made her do a double take. Skuld and Urd were sleeping next to each other against the wall, and both were resting on each other. Skuld was resting on Urd's left shoulder and looking peaceful; Urd was resting her head on Skuld's head and both looked sound asleep. Megumi slowly got up and moved stealthily out of the room trying not to disturb this moment, but wishing she had a camera.

Megumi moved slowly and quietly around the temple as she explored the restored ruins that the temple once was. As she turned into the main room that was lit with candles and incense, she noticed two people sitting in a corner. Moving slowly and quietly past the pillars in the temple Megumi worked her way towards the people, trying not to disturb them. As Megumi got closer she noticed one was Belldandy who was kneeling over the still unconscious Keiichi; his chest was still lowering and rising in the same pattern that Megumi had seen before she collapsed. The other was Peorth she was standing next to Belldandy with her hand on Belldandy's shoulder.

Megumi after discovering who it was; slowly began to back up and to leave them be, but a loose board gave away her position. Megumi looked down and then up as Belldandy and Peorth looked directly at her; Megumi felt her face turn red.

"I-I'-I'm Sorry! I-didn't-"Megumi stammered, and then suddenly felt Belldandy's arms wrap around her as she embraced Megumi. Megumi felt her warmth pour from her into Megumi; and Megumi reached her arms around Belldandy as well.

"Megumi, thank goodness that you woke up!" Belldandy said to Megumi. Before Megumi could even respond to Belldandy's comment; another loosed board creaking breaking Megumi and Belldandy reunion. Skuld and Urd were standing a few feet behind them, and Skuld's face was red and Urd was smiling at both of them while pointing her finger at Skuld.

"Sorry Onee-sama!" Skuld said sounding embarrassed, and then her face changed from embarrassment to anger as she observed that Urd was pointing towards her.

"Oh come on, you two are going to start fighting after all we've been through!" Peorth said teasing both of them, and both of them looked back at Belldandy and Megumi; and shook their heads like obedient children.

"Good to see that you finally woke up, Megumi!" Urd said; still holding part of her sight on Skuld.

"How long was I out?" Megumi said completely out of synch with time.

"Almost six hours!" Skuld said, also keeping a glance at Urd, "I woke up about thirty minutes after you collapsed, and then Belldandy and finally Urd woke up about fifteen minutes after that, Peorth woke about three hours ago." Skuld finished holding down a yawn, and suddenly Megumi remembered something.

"Urd did you do what that woman; Hi-ill-Hill…HILD!" Megumi shouted as she finally remembered. "Did you say what Hild wanted you to say to her?"

"No, I did not!" Urd said, Megumi was shocked.

"Why not, that is why she helped bring Keiichi back to life." Megumi said sounding almost like she was pleading.

"Hild is my mother, and if I call her that I would not be able to be a Goddess anymore; and I will not do or say anything that will jeopardize that." Urd said; sounding final about the whole thing in her tone.

"Then what was the punishment that Njord took." Megumi asked the Goddess. All four of them looked at Megumi for a moment, and then each other in shock; finally it was Belldandy who spoke up.

"Hild and Njord disappeared as Freyja and Lind fixed the city and the temple grounds, when he came back he was wearing a black glove over his right hand; he would not tell us what had happened."

"Shortly after that we moved you and Keiichi into the temple as they finished up in the house, and we have been here ever since." Skuld finished up for Megumi who finally had all her questions answered.

As the night progressed into the early morning hours, Skuld and Urd had fallen back asleep as Belldandy continued to be next to Keiichi. Megumi and Peorth had stepped outside for some fresh air; Peorth was still complaining of pains through out her body. It had been almost two hours had passed since Megumi and woke up and there had not been a change in Keiichi. Belldandy refused to sleep she said she wanted to be awake when Keiichi woke up, but having been with out sleep for more than twelve hours she was getting tired.

After all of her attempts to keep awake Belldandy finally succumbed by the need to sleep. She had fallen asleep on her right arm and lay next to Keiichi and slept on the cold wooden floor. She slept for what felt like five minutes when a warm hand landed on her hand and woke her up. She opened her eyes and readjusted to find Keiichi sitting Indian-style looking at her as he rubbed his hand over hers. She gasped and then reaching her arms around him pulled him closes and would not let him go. Keiichi did not resist or anything but a few moments he wrapped his arms around her as well.

"I'm so glad that you finally woke up, I thought you would never come back." Belldandy said as her tears swelled up.

"For a moment I almost didn't; and…while I was there, all I thought about was you." Keiichi whispered in her ear. Belldandy came off his shoulder for a moment and looking into his eyes. "It was exactly the way you described it to me."

Belldandy fell back into Keiichi's arms and they embraced again and Belldandy whispered into his ear, "This is Heaven to me!"

The next few days everyone had their own ways of dealing with the aftermath of Loki's betrayal. Lind came back to the temple the next morning to inform them of Loki's punishment: he was stripped of his powers and exiled to the furthest reaches of space, only the Almighty knew where he was at. It was a small victory to everyone, because even as the punishment was made, Loki had left his marks on some.

Urd still struggled with her fire element in her powers for about a day and it slowly came back. Skuld was completely drained of her powers, the only thing she could do was call Noble Scarlet, but after three days she was back to speed. Peorth had spent almost a full day back in heaven, she had lost her powers when Loki froze her, and nearly killed her when Loki slammed her into the ground. Keiichi was the worst of all of them, one night the Goddess came into his room with him screaming and cold sweat running down his face. He was also grabbing his chest, shaking violently and holding his hands over his heart so tight he cut into his chest with his fingernails.

Megumi was also not free from her own memories of that day; a few days afterwards Tamiya and Otaki came over to the temple with a video they shot. The video ended up being footage of the Tornado that Njord formed they took from the roof of one school buildings. Megumi was frozen again with fear as the sound and the debris flew in front of the camera and her memory swirled of actually being in front of the tornado. Megumi also felt the same way in her apartment when she heard the whistling of the wind coming through her window; but every time she felt this fear an unknown warm breeze would encompass around her and the fear left her.

After a week had passed since that day everyone was back at the temple for something to take their minds off the incident. Belldandy had invited Megumi over for lunch and Megumi was happy for the chance to take her mind off what had happened. The house had also been rebuilt and made to be exactly the way it was before it was destroyed by both Loki and Njord. Things were the same when Megumi came over; Skuld, Urd, and Peorth were playing Uno over who could watch their program and Keiichi was working in his room.

Belldandy and Megumi worked in the Kitchen preparing for the main course for Lunch. When the preparation got close to being finished, Megumi went and got Keiichi from his room and brought him out to the tea room. Megumi and Keiichi ate and listened while Urd, Skuld and Peorth were now accusing each other of cheating in the paper, rock and scissors game over who was going to watch their program. As the just about finished Lunch, a knock came on the front door, and Skuld having lost went and answered it, she came back with Lord Njord with her.

"My Lord welcome back!" Belldandy said, "Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you Belldandy, I'm here on orders from the Almighty!" Njord said raising his gloved hands as he sounding rather distraught. Everyone turned to Njord and watched as he removed a piece of paper from a pocket on his robes and handed it to Belldandy. Belldandy took it, opened it up and read it to herself; she gasped and then looked at Njord. "I'm sorry!"

"What is it Onee-sama?" Skuld asked.

"I've been recalled back to heaven for a hearing!" Belldandy said slowly as shock came from her.

"WHAT!?" Skuld, Urd and Peorth said together

"A hearing for what?" Megumi asked equally shocked.

"To decide if whether or not to reassign Belldandy to a different department." Njord said slowly.

"For how long?" Urd asked, sounding mad more than shocked.

"Permanent!" Njord said in a final tone.

To be continued….

Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.


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